A Justified Crime
by THiaLieN
Summary: Perfect crime means leaving no eye witness. After finding himself in the wrong place at the wrong time, strange things started to happen around the 15 years old tennis prodigy, Fuji Shuusuke. He feared for his life, but the last thing he wanted to do was involving his loving family and his devoted teammates.
1. Chapter 1

**Title:** A Justified Crime  
**Category:** Anime/Manga » Prince of Tennis  
**Author:** THiaLieN  
**Language:** English

**Rating:** T  
**Genre:** Angst/Suspense/Crime/Friendship

**DISCLAIMER:** Prince Of Tennis belongs to Konomi Takashi

**WARNING:** Mild violence. Possible future hints of _shounen-ai_, but mostly strong friendship. Unbeta-ed, possible grammatical errors and inappropriate choice of words (Still learning. Please kindly point them out, I'll fix them).

**SUMMARY:**

Perfect crime means leaving no eye witness. After finding himself in the wrong place at the wrong time, strange things started to happen around the 15 years old tennis prodigy, Fuji Shuusuke. He feared for his life, but the last thing he wanted to do was involving his loving family and his devoted teammates.

* * *

**Chapter 01**

* * *

_For the sake of the loved one, he would go to the extent of killing another, breaking his oath as the one to save life._

* * *

I heard the loud beeping sound.

What could it be?

It was a very dark room. The only source of light was the dimmed bed lamp. The curtain was closed, barely letting any light from the outside. From a little opening, a glimpse of moonlight found its way through, illuminating a small thing on the pristine white table by the window. It was the only thing that showed a sense of life in the grim place.

Among those huge machineries meant for life support, there was a small photo in a simple plastic frame. A picture of a young brown haired boy holding a tennis racquet, innocent smile plastered on his face. He was happily clinging to another boy whose stern face was partly covered by a white cap, a tennis ball in his free hand. It was a happy moment. There was a note behind the frame, clearly written by hand.

_Tohru and Ryoma. January 20th, 20xx_

He was a very lively boy before everything cropped up. Unfortunate things happened with or without our consent, and that was how the world worked. There was no trace of the previous happy grin on that pale anorexic face of his. He was no longer youthful. His lips were dry and chapped, slightly parted where the tube was inserted. His sunken eyes were closed, lifeless behind the heavy lids. He was dying. No one would realize that he was still alive if not for the beeping sound from the monitor, steadily recording his heart rate. What had he done to deserve this kind of fate?

How small he was compared to those supporting machines, lying helplessly on the white linen. His whole body system had been overridden by technologies, ensuring his survival. Only God knows if his soul was still in there.

His organs were failing. He wasn't even breathing on his own.

The machine beeped loudly. Before long, a nurse came in and turned off the alarm. She was a typical looking Japanese woman in her mid-thirties, black curly hair tied neatly behind her head. She got bags under her eyes, and there was no make-up used to hide it. She was wearing an apron and sterile boots. The only thing that identifies her as a nurse of an exclusive private hospital was her uniform and her name tag.

Despite her tired expression, she skillfully replaced an empty syringe from an auto-infusion machine with a standard intravenous line. She opened a metal drawer and took a sterile transparent fluid bag. She hung it near the bed post, connecting the tube to one of many others attached on the body.

"Dinner time," she murmured softly, adjusting the drop-rate to 4cc per minute. She checked her watch and turned to the bedside, scribbling something.

**Protein infusion. 20:00. Check. **

She set an alarm for precaution, checking for the other tubes, making sure every single fluid flowed accordingly. She squatted down and changed the urine bag.

"Done."

She casted a sad glance at the comatose patient before finally exited the room. She still had 1 hour and 14 minutes before said patient finished his meal.

* * *

"Captain, good morning!"

"How are you, Captain?"

"Tezuka. How do you feel, anything hurt?"

"Sssssh, he's sleeping."

"There're 68.5 percent chance that—"

"Enough." Tezuka winced slightly as he sat upright, registering the visitors' face one by one. Everyone was there, how convenient. He noticed Inui scribbled something on his notebook.

"There is 45.5 percent chance that Tezuka's face winced just now due to the unbearable pain on the stomach. 30.5 percent due to headache. 20 percent because of our presence, and-" he trailed, considering something before looking up at his captain, "-what is your diagnosis again, Tezuka?" he asked, glasses glinting deviously. Was he being sarcastic? He must've known. He was Inui after all.

"Food poisoning."

"Food poisoning! Nya! Captain has been poisoned!" Eiji threw herself on the edge of the hospital bed. Oishi stood next to him, frowning in obvious concern.

"Really, Tezuka? What did you eat? You didn't come to practice this morning and we were so worried." Oishi told him. Tezuka only responded with a 'hn' and focused his gaze behind the vice-captain. Kawamura was struggling with something in his backpack, while Momo and Kaidoh started bickering by his sides.

Oishi noticed the displeased look in the captain's eyes, "Um, Tezuka, we have a gift for you," he told him before ushering Eiji to help their juniors.

"Here we go Captain!" suddenly Tezuka saw bright yellow flashed in front of him. Tulips.

"Buchou, get well soon! You like them right?" Eiji bounced closer to him again. Tezuka frowned at the closeness, since Eiji's voice was high and loud. The acrobatic player's face fell, "Tezuka-buchou looks displeased. He doesn't like them, Nya!" he whined and glared at his juniors. They flinched.

"I didn't choose that one! I chose red roses! Fsssssh!" Kaido yelled defensively. Inui scribbled something while muttering "ii data."

"But you agreed to buy that one. We're buying for a sick person, not a girlfriend or something," Momo retorted. Kaido hissed back at him. Kawamura sighed defeatedly between them.

"Mada mada dane, senpai. Told you to buy each of everything." Ryoma said, looking uninterested. "Color variations are good for sick person," he added. Tezuka was growing tired of hearing the word 'sick' now and then.

"Ochibi, that would make it very inartistic and messy Nya! Horrible!" Eiji whined louder. Ryoma paid no attention and played with his tennis racquet instead, thinking of giving them to Kawamura.

"Echizen, that's not nice." Oishi said warily. He needed to evacuate his teammates somehow before the captain exploded. Kawamura wiggled slightly,

"Hey, your bag is moving!" Eiji pointed at the backpack in Kawamura's hand.

"I don't know. This is not mine!" he exclaimed, looking at the shorter boy, "Echizen, it's yours!"

"Don't tell me-" Ryoma looked surprised. "Karupin!" a cat leapt out of the bag, jumping toward Momo.

"Get this thing off of me!" he yelled in panic as the cat clawed his face mercilessly. Kaido tried to pry it off,

"He likes you I guess, heh." Kaido said sarcastically as Karupin refused to let his friend go. Its furs were standing, sign of his distress.

"Aaaaargh!" Momo shouted. A nurse barged in suddenly,

"What on earth is happening in here?!" her built was quite small, but her voice was loud and intimidating. She reminded them of their coach. She balanced an empty tray on a hand, and waving the other one impatiently, "You! This is a hospital, cat or any other animal is not allowed!" she barked, glaring at Momo. The regulars only stared at the floor.

"This is your entire fault." Kaido hissed at Momo.

"No it isn't- someone please get this monster off of me!" his shouted again as Karupin struggled in his hold. The nurse looked like she was about to hit the students with the tray when a cold voice interrupted her.

"All of you except Inui and Oishi, 3 laps around the hospital." They didn't have to look to know whose voice it belonged too. 3 seemed like a small number, but this hospital was twice as large as their school building.

"That's unfair, I didn't do anything Nya!" Eiji whined, and the others followed. Tezuka ignored his protest,

"Kikumaru, 4 laps."

"Alright! Alright!" They scrambled and ran out, leaving the stunned nurse. Oishi sighed and shook his head.

"I'm sorry for the trouble," he apologized politely to the nurse. Inui was still scribbling who-know-what and the sound of pen against paper was quite noisy in the cramped ward,

"If I were you, I'd stop writing right now Inui." A honey haired boy stepped into the room.

"Fuji!" Oishi was startled a bit. The tensai was holding a suspicious looking box in his hand. Tezuka tried his best not to groan. The nurse smiled in amusement.

"This is your friend. It's fortunate I met him on the way and took him here, or else who knows what you kids might do to this ward." She said while collecting empty plates and cups from the side table. She turned to Fuji, "you're nice, but if you behave like your friends out there. I'm going to kick you out." she excused herself and left, muttering something about 'kids' and 'cats'.

"She's a nice nurse. What had you done to make her mad?" Fuji asked. Oishi sighed.

"It's a long story Fuji, I'll tell you later," he said and turned to Inui, "Inui, let's leave. I need to check on our teammates. Is that alright with you Tezuka?" he asked the Captain. Tezuka was utterly grateful to hear that.

"Aa," was all he said. Oishi and Inui left the room, leaving a frowning Tezuka and a smiling Fuji. The tensai wore a plain white long sleeved shirt and a dark pants instead of his uniforms like the others.

"Saa... You don't look please to see me..." Fuji teased him. Tezuka knew better than to respond. His gaze followed Fuji everywhere as the tensai unwraped a box with little holes around it. It seemed very suspicious.

"You didn't come with the others."

"I told Eiji to go first with the others. I met our history teacher at the corridor and she asked me to help her carrying stacks of papers," he explained, "probably tests. I think I saw your name, and it's a perfect score. No suprise," he added in an amused tone. Tezuka ignored the last comment.

"You took your time."

"Well, she mentioned something about a firework festival for school anniversary next month and we lost track of time. Student council project. Yours right?" he told Tezuka.

"Yes, and it's in two weeks, not next month. But the firework was still unofficial. Don't tell anyone." He said. Fuji stepped closer and put the box on Tezuka's lap,

"Say hello to Jessica!" he exclaimed cheerfully. The captain could only stare at the pot of cactus in front of him. 'Jessica' didn't look any different from 'Karen' and 'Reiko' in his eyes. There were ten other pots at his home, and Fuji named each of them.

"..."

"Tezuka, say something. It's impolite!" Fuji shoved the box closer to Tezuka. The captain looked away, clearly distressed. "Ne, I invited her here and picked her up from home just for you." Tezuka shrugged a little and sighed.

"Fuji, it's a plant. You don't greet plants." He reasoned, but not expecting much logic from the other.

"Yes you do, and you will." Fuji insisted. Tezuka looked at the neatly decorated box and the healthy plan. Fuji brought it all the way here, no matter how ridiculous it was.

"H-hello... Jessica." He muttered with a supressed groan. Great, he gave up. He was sure next time Fuji would ask him to sing with the cactus.

"That wasn't so hard, right?" Fuji beamed at him, looking very satisfied. Tezuka held back a smile and looked away again.

Tezuka never minded Fuji's company. In fact, he enjoyed it. Even though Fuji was the polar opposite of him, he always found it amusing to watch the other. The only interest they shared was tennis and nature. Their other preferences in everything were different. But still, they enjoyed each other's company.

"Ne, Tezuka is that Inui juice?" Fuji asked, pointing at a dangerous looking liquid container. Yes, Tezuka could never understand how the tensai's taste bud works.

"I didn't notice before." he told the honey haired boy. Fuji examined the small container, sniffing it a little.

"Can I have it?" he asked.

"Aa," he answered a little too quickly, earning a soft chuckle from Fuji.

"Thank you," Fuji slowly opened the lid. Tezuka relaxed a bit on the pillows while watching his friend downing the strange liquid. Fuji was a sadistic, mischievous, and irrational dear friend of his. But no matter how annoying he might get, he could never get tired watching him. Fuji and his antiques always interested him.

Tezuka stared at the box in his lap. His gaze softened a little. The cactus was small, moss green, with a bright yellow flower on the side. There was a purple ribbon tied around the pot, a note attached to it. Tezuka tried to reach it. But his finger accidentally grazed the small thorns.

"Ah!" Fuji was surprised when he felt Tezuka elbowed him on the ribs. Orange colored liquid poured on his front shirt. "Oh no, Tezuka..." he sighed.

"I'm sorry. It's a reflex." The captain apologized. Fuji noticed the blood on his finger and quickly reached for a tissue.

"It's ok. Here," he applied pressure on the prick wound. "Hold this for a while. I'm going to clean my shirt right away. Do you have any soap?" he asked.

"There's none. We came here unprepared." he answered. It was true, he suddenly collapse from pain and abdominal discomfort his parents had to rush him to the hospital right away. Fuji only smiled,

"What happened to 'don't let your guard down' Ne, Tezuka?" he teased. "It's fine. I'll ask the nurse if I can borrow something."

"Fuji, I'm sorry." Tezuka apologized again and reached something on the side drawer. "Here, cover them with this." he gave his neatly folded tennis jacket to Fuji.

"No, it's fine, really." Fuji refused softly. But since Tezuka didn't take no for an answer, he took it. "Ne, give me the tulips, I'll take care of it also." He offered and reached for an empty white vase near the bed.

"You don't have to-" Fuji ignored his protest and walked out the room.

"Be right back."

The hospital was very large, too large that the hundreds of medical workers and patients were hardly in sight, but that was understandable at this hour. There were lots of wards, corridors, and other medical rooms Fuji didn't recognize. It had the usual cold hospital vibe, the air felt heavy with antiseptic.

Fuji always found hospital as an interesting place. It gave him a sense of unfamiliarity, strange, a bit gloomy, like he was no longer in his usual world. Still, he didn't like staying here too long. He sped up his steps until he found a nurse wearing a white apron.

"Excuse me miss, where can I find a restroom?" The nurse was startled but instantly smiled. He used the word 'miss' for someone as old as she was. She was flattered. Then she noticed his front shirt. "Or any place I can go to wash this? I have to go somewhere important after, and I can't go like this," Fuji continued and lifted the flower and the vase a bit, revealing the orange stain.

"Oh dear, did you accidentally spilled juice on your shirt?" she shook her head sympathetically. "Go straight until you find emergency stairs on the left, go down two floors, there's a washroom for janitors. And if you want to go back quickly, just turn left and there's a staff elevator there." she explained sweetly. "If you can't find it, just ask anyone there, I'm sure they'll tell you."

"I understand." Fuji replied, trying to remember everything.

"And please return immediately after that. That place is limited to staffs actually," she told him before adding, "Now go before your shirt turned orange permanently."

"Thank you very much!"

She shook her head and smiled. "What a very nice boy," she muttered and turned away.

She took off her sterile apron, folding it before throwing the material to a basket nearby. She made her way down the hall and into her 'special' room. When she opened the door, she immediately threw herself on a large couch and stretched her limbs, groaning contently.

"Damn." She cursed, suddenly remembered this whole area and wards had cameras installed practically everywhere. She sat upright, picking up a magazine on the floor, and started reading.

* * *

"I wonder if Tezuka get along nicely with Jessica." Fuji smiled to himself, turning the water tap on. He found the cabinet full of cleaning supplies and picked a random tube, anything was fine.

He hummed softly while trying to clean his smudged shirt, rinsing it occasionally with flowing water. He realized that his soft humming voice echoed loudly in the bathroom. Too quiet, too cold, and too dark for his liking.

He quickly washed his hands, flapping his front shirt in a quick drying attempt. He grabbed the flowers and filled half the vase quickly with water. He turned the water tap off, grabbed his Tezuka's jersey, and quickly left the room with a flower vase in hand.

"Left. Left. Left." he repeated, a bit confused. This part of area was unfamiliar. Though there was still this overwhelming disinfectant smell and unfriendly hospital vibe, this particular place was too secluded and eerily quiet. "Creepy." Fuji muttered to ease himself. There were hanged white linens and green aprons everywhere along the corridor. Every walls and doors are the same. 'Is this workers quarter?' he thought.

Great, the prodigy was lost, in a mere hospital no less. Inui would be ecstatic if he saw Fuji like this. "Hello? Excuse me?" he called. Fuji groaned when he received no response. He glanced at his wristwatch.

09.18 PM

"Nee-san's going to kill me." He grumbled and put on his jacket. He run in the corridor, trying every door as he blamed the structures of this building. Every single door looked the same. Some were locked, even chained, and some looked like they were storage rooms, unused wards. He reached for the third door, hearing a strange sound.

Beep.

'Not this one then.' He thought and turned away.

Beep.

'On second thought, maybe there's someone in there.' He reached the handle and let himself in.

"Hello?" Fuji called.

Beep.

"Anyone here?" he called again. Fuji inhaled nervously and walked further. The first thing he noticed was the dimmed bed lamp, machineries humming noises, then the lifeless body.

Beep.

* * *

It was a boring job, being assigned to a single patient in a community hospital this large. After all, she enrolled in a prestigious college for 5 years, and she was rather loved by most of her patients before this, before this boring cursed job.

She was a very capable nurse, 'one of the best the hospital has ever set their eyes on'. It was what they said when they offered her a promotion, a better job with a better payment. She was eager, agreed too quickly. It turned out she had to play a private nurse for an exclusive patient. His identity was unknown to her, and she was told not to ask. She was ordered to tend to his every need.

It was another day before she was introduced to the whole team, three fellow nurses, two doctors, and two technicians. The meeting room was large, cold, and somehow isolated. They were still in the same hospital building, but they never knew that such rooms existed. She had been working here for 6 years, and she knew the hospital was large, complex, but not to this extend. She admired her surroundings, enthralled, before two man wearing black suits entered the room.

They laid several papers in front of them, contracts, time tables, instructions, and other documents. They told the team to read everything, and sign the contract. The condition was simple. "Just work like usual around this hospital while taking care of a special patient." She read the resume and about to ask why such a special comatose kid in the secluded room needed this kind of treatment before the other continued, "No questions, and never breathe a word about this side job to anyone." She swallowed her curiosity back. So this kid was special, and that was there to it.

She could never understand why they were keeping a practically 'dead' body alive and preserved? That was stupid. But she had no choice at the moment.

They agreed and signed the contract. She worked like usual after that, never asked a thing, rarely converse with her fellow 'special' medical workers. Very easy.

It was at the end of the month when she received her first payment, cash, and an amount exceeding a surgeon's monthly income. She knew she should have never taken this strange job.

09. 20 PM

"It's time." She said to herself. She put on her shoes and walked away.

* * *

"Yes, Fuji-san. Yes. I'll tell him later. I'm sorry." Tezuka flipped the phone and placed it back beside the cactus. It was inappropriate answering someone else's phone, but the phone kept on ringing and the caller id showed 'Nee-san.' He had to pick up.

Fuji had been gone for almost half an hour. Surely finding something to clean his shirt with wouldn't take a very long time.

He stole a glance at the cactus pot and the note with a handwritten 'get well soon' attached to it.

Tezuka was worried.

* * *

She hated this corridor. She can endure the first few months. But surely, they didn't expect her to work here for a life time, right? What was the point in keeping the boy alive anyway? They must have hidden something dangerous probably, or controversial. Anything was possible. But no questions. It was what they said.

"No damn quest- GOD!" she nearly screamed. She never expected to see something moving when she opened the ward door. She slumped against the door frame, tiredness overwhelmed her.

"I'm sorry! I didn't mean to frighten you. I was-" Fuji stuttered. He was shocked himself. The nurse stared at him,

"You!" she exclaimed, slowly regaining composure. "I told you to return immediately." She said, scolding the boy. Fuji bowed his head.

"I'm sorry." He apologized again politely. She held back a groan, letting out a sigh instead, then turned to Fuji.

"Wait outside, I have to do something first. I'll take you to your family's ward after I'm done." She said. He didn't say anything as she ushered him out and closed the door.

Before he was stirred out of the room, Fuji stole a glimpse at a photo frame again he had seen earlier before the nurse caught him. The silhouette looked familiar. He squinted his eyes to see more clearly. "Stay here." The nurse added again. Fuji gave her a weary smile and nod. Fuji didn't know who the boy on the bed was or why he was there, but it was quite disheartening. As long as he can leave this strange place, he was eternally grateful.

Unaware of the cameras resting on every corner, Fuji silently waited for the nurse, a vase of yellow tulips in his arm.

* * *

"Tezuka, you won't believe what has happened to me while I was looking for water and detergent!" Fuji said as he barged into his friend's room. Tezuka looked up from his book, staring at the slightly worked up brunet.

"And you won't believe how mad your sister sounded on the phone." He told his friend. Fuji only blinked at the remark. He didn't even tease Tezuka about answering other people's call. He didn't even notice Tezuka used longer sentence than usual. He just shrugged.

"Ah yes, she should be." He sighed as he closed the door behind him. "It means I need to go now." He added. Tezuka watched as his friend placed the vase on the table beside him. Fuji shoved the phone into his pocket and grabbed the cactus pot, placing it inside its colorful box.

"Fuji." the bespectacled boy called. He noticed, even though just a bit, that his friend's movement was slightly agitated. Fuji himself might not realize it.

"Yes?" he asked. Tezuka only stared into the blue orbs. "Tezuka? Is there anything wrong?" he asked again, ready to leave with the box in hand. The bespectacled man was having an inner turmoil whether to ask if Fuji was alright or not.

"Nothing. Don't let your guard down." He stated his infamous line with indifferent expression on his face. The familiar warning eased the honey haired boy a bit. Fuji visibly relaxed and let out a chuckle.

"Saa... I will, captain." He said teasingly. "Goodbye Tezuka. Get well soon." He opened the box in his hand, "say goodbye to Tezuka, Jessica." He rocked the box slightly while repeating the word in a strange voice. Tezuka frowned slightly.

"Fuji..."

"Tezuka, you were supposed to say it too. Now you've hurt her twice in a day." The prodigy made a face. He was always teasing. Tezuka didn't know why he always relented and made a fool of himself in the end every time Fuji asked him to do anything ridiculous. First he was greeting a cactus, now he was saying goodbye to that plant.

"Goodbye, Jessica."

There he did it. Fuji's smile afterward made the embarrassment and irrationality worth a while.

* * *

**Next issue:** The regulars were back into their normal practice routine after Tezuka was discharged. Meanwhile, a group of people in the hospital had been trying to find out who the boy appeared in the surveillance camera was.


	2. Chapter 2

**Chapter 02**

"Out! 6 – 3, Kaidou wins!"

"How can it be?!" Momo shouted with all his might. Just when he thought that he'd win after perfecting a completely new move at the end of the game, which Inui deemed as the most ineffective technique in the history of tennis, he lost.

"If he played like usual back then, his score would've been better," Inui muttered as he scribbled something on his notepad. He was moving to stand at the right side of the court, right behind Kaidou. "7 – 5 at best," he added, snapping his book closed.

"He'd still lost, right?" The viper snickered gleefully, glancing at his senior behind him. Inui looked amused,

"Well, it's inevitable." He replied. Even in his calculations, Momoshiro would still lose the game anyway.

"Hey! I can hear you, you know!" Momo shouted angrily behind the net.

"Lower you voice, is that how you talk to your senior?" Kaidou reprimanded his friend with a very satisfied tone. Even his face pissed Momoshiro a lot.

"Nya! Momoshiro is rude! He's rude!" Eiji chimed in as he stepped into the court, holding a racquet. Oishi followed him closely.

"If you don't mind, it's time for our doubles match." Oishi was as polite as always.

"Fine. I'll win next time, you hear that snake head?!" Momo taunted childishly. Kaidou only snorted back,

"Dream on, you peach." He retorted.

"Why you-" Momo didn't get to finish his sentence.

"Momoshiro Takeshi, Kaidou Kaoru, both of you! Out of the court now!" At the familiar sound of their coach, the two players stepped aside in haste, adding words of apology as they scrambled away.

"Let's go, Oishi!" Eiji dragged his friend toward the court, meeting their doubles opponent. His blue-eyed best friend already standing in the middle.

"Let's have a nice and fun game." Fuji said as they shook their hands in turn. Kawamura then turned around to pick up his racquet. A roar was heard.

"Game start! Fuji to serve."

Eiji whined as the ball disappeared gracefully.

* * *

"Fuji is in a good mood." Ryuuzaki noted as he watched the game. She sat beside Tezuka, who was watching the game carefully. The captain was discharged from the hospital yesterday, so he was still wearing his uniform today. Ryuuzaki specifically told him to sit out from today and tomorrow's practice. They witnessed the ball disappeared a second time. They could hear Eiji's loud 'that's unfair!' as he desperately tried to hit the ball. "What do you think, Tezuka?" Ryuuzaki asked.

"Kikumaru needs to work on his concentration more. He should've tried to observe the ball and the opponent's movement first. Until now he has been working his body needlessly trying to hit the ball." He answered. Ryuuzaki only nodded.

"True. His actions also disrupt his partner's concentration." She added, looking at Oishi who was having a hard time following his excited partner. Tezuka nodded again. "Who do you think would win, Tezuka?"

"If this continues, probably Fuji and Kawamura will win. It's a hard decision to make at the start of the game. Fuji is a competent single player, but this is a doubles match where Kikumaru and Oishi have more advantages. They had worked in sync for a long time, and both are a very capable tennis player." Tezuka explained. The coach smiled again at the team captain. Both continued to watch in silence.

Before long they could hear the ball hit a racquet. Oishi managed to touch the serve after concentrating for so long. The ball was fast and hard to see, but he could determine where it was from watching Fuji's movement as he serve. It was a wild, fun, and lucky guess on Oishi's side, but if this continued, they could get the gist of it quickly. Eiji happily hugged his friend before provoking their opponent for another serve. Fuji replied their taunt by serving normally.

"Nya! What's that?!" Eiji hit the ball clumsily, he was expecting the special serve. Fuji chuckled at Eiji's antique. "Fuji you're so mean!" he whined.

"Can't let you have the secret of my serve, Eiji!" Fuji teased the red hair and returned the ball swiftly. They started a smooth game, volleying ball here and there.

Tezuka sighed as he watched their childishness. Their game was good, but they could've played it more seriously. His eyes strayed to Fuji. The blue eyed boy was smiling and laughing as he played. He was the only one Tezuka knew could play tennis like that. Fuji had changed a lot since the national. Tezuka could feel his determination to win in every game lately. It pleased Tezuka so much to see the growing passion for tennis in his best friend.

But Fuji was still Fuji. He liked to play a lot, and by 'play' it meant as having fun or fooling around. After changing courts, he decided to shock Eiji again with another serve. Even Kawamura shook his head. When would they be playing seriously? Tezuka sighed again. He'd have them run 10 laps after this if they continue.

* * *

Another 15 minutes passed and the game were still on. "Sorry, I'm late!" Ryoma panted heavily as he leaned forward on his knees for support. His shirt was drenched in sweat. He stood up as he walked toward the captain, still wearing his cap. Tezuka looked at him disapprovingly,

"20 laps." he returned his gaze back on the match. Ryoma only gasped. How could there be a man so heartless in the world? He sighed and started tying up his laces. Ryoma looked at the court Ryuuzaki and Tezuka watched intently, spotting the cat-like Eiji bickering with his genius senpai. Even though Ryoma never admitted it out loud and acted like the cocky brat he was, he always admired Fuji and his flawless tennis skill. Ryoma lowered his cap. He was following his honey haired senpai's graceful movements when his eyes met with the blue one. He felt at the split second, Fuji's eyes fixated at him longer than necessary. And he was in the middle of a game.

"Fuji!" Kawamura shouted as he blocked a tennis ball in front of Fuji, causing the ball to go outside the field.

"Out! Fuji, concentrate!" Ryuuzaki suddenly stood up and scolded him. Fuji grinned sheepishly and apologized. Tezuka sighed quietly in relief. Ryoma noticed that and almost grinned when Tezuka suddenly turned around to look at him.

He started running as fast as he could, pretending he didn't hear the "25 laps."

"Are you alright, Tezuka?" Fuji sat beside him, leaning against bench. Tezuka could see sweat trailing down his face. He took out a towel from a bag,

"I'm fine." He handed it to Fuji who accepted is gratefully.

"I'm sorry I never came again since the last time I visited the hospital." Fuji said as he wiped his face and neck. Tezuka watched his friend's every movement. It wasn't like Fuji had any obligation to visit him every day in the hospital, nor did he had to be there when he was discharged, but they were just like that. They had stayed by each others side for a very long time already. They didn't know when did it start this way, but apologizing for 'not being there' was pretty normal for them now.

"It's alright." Tezuka replied and handed him a bottle of water. Fuji took it and quickly gulped generous amount of water. "Careful," Tezuka said as he watched his friend. Fuji wiped his mouth and grinned at him.

"Ne, Tezuka. You're so sweet today." Fuji could never get tired of teasing his stoic captain.

"Break time is over, Fuji." Tezuka reminded him, ignoring Fuji's protest 'Tezuka is trying to kill me.'

"You're lazing around yourself." Fuji smirked, that hit the mark. Tezuka was never going to admit his weakness, that he couldn't afford to enter strenuous activity right away after he was discharged only yesterday.

"Fuji..."

"Ne, why don't we pick up the balls like we did when we were first years? Let them practice swinging a bit more. It's not a heavy thing to do, and it won't upset your stomach." He grinned and teased the captain again. Tezuka frowned in annoyance.

"Fuji."

"Alright. Don't make me run laps, I'm going to die." Fuji smiled and quickly got up. Tezuka also stood up and walked to pick up a strayed tennis ball.

"I never said about going back to the court." Tezuka said as he moved to pick up another ball. Fuji smiled wholeheartedly and started to pick up balls nearby.

"You really are so weird today. Do you eat something unusual?" he asked, a hint of teasing in his voice. Tezuka knew better than to reply.

"Look! Tezuka buchou and Fujiko are picking up balls!"

Tezuka was really tempted to make them run a hundred laps.

* * *

It was another half an hour before lunch, but she was so bored she decided to visit the patient earlier. She opened the ward door, hearing some noise inside. There were two men in the room. One was operating a laptop on the side table, and the other was climbing a chair to reach something on the wall. Both were clad in grey uniforms.

"Excuse me, what are you doing?" she asked politely. Both men turned toward her, revealing familiar faces. They were technicians, working in the same 'special' team with her.

"Hey, it's us," one of them answered. "We were installing new camera at this side, ma'am." He continued and climbed down the chair. She visibly relaxed.

"What is it for? There is one by the door, and there're several more along the corridors." she asked curiously. Just how many cameras were needed to watch the entire room?

"They were asking for cameras with higher resolution." He shrugged and turned toward his companion, "how is it?" he asked.

"It's great, see?" he turned his laptop toward the nurse. She cringed at the image showed. It was live streaming of her at the moment. It was still a bit blurred, but detailed enough to make out her face, smiling and then frowning.

"That's quite... Clear." She commented, slightly stepping aside from the camera's range. But the range were quite large. A typical closing sound was heard from the Laptop.

"It's done. I'm going first." the man excuses himself, packing his laptop and left. She watched until the door closed,

"I don't see why this was necessary." she stated.

"Apparently, someone let a boy into the room a couple of days ago. From what I heard, it was only a boy, looking around harmlessly," he told her. "That hag working at the surveillance room reported it to the boss. You know then, all hell broke lose." He sighed.

"Yes. And I've seen that boy, I met him when I want to tend to the patient," she gestured to the lifeless body on the bed. "For sure he was harmless, got lost when looking for bathroom." She explained.

"I thought so too. But the boss seemed mad, and he said about wanting the boy to be found. But all cameras installed around him couldn't give a clear view of his face." he told her.

"But it's not a big deal! Come on, he's just a kid. He wouldn't even know we're keeping this corpse-"

"Sssh!" he hushed her. She gasped in realization,

"Don't tell me... Oh god." She inhaled deeply at the nod she received from both men. This was absurd. Why would they installed microphones in there also. Were they some kind of obsessive paranoid people or what?

"Hey, let's go out for a second." he asked her. She complied and stepped out of the room. He led her away a bit far from the ward, into a blind spot from the camera.

"Look, we are on the same boat here. People who don't understand, and will _never _want to understand," he emphasized. "I don't know what they have been doing, or why they've been keeping that boy you called corpse there, and I don't want to know." He said in a low whisper. She only stared at him. "The pay is high, and there's all I need to know."

"Uh... Okay..." she replied as softly, still staring at him. The man sighed,

"I don't know if I should tell you this or not." He whispered carefully. "I heard about a lot of nasty things they did, just a rumor among us, but still it creeps me out. I don't believe any of it you know, because this is a hospital for god sake." He raised his voice a bit without realizing it. She listened carefully, and wondered if things could be more confusing. "And you know what they said that really disturbed me. It was us, the workers on the team two." her brow raised at that.

"team two?" she repeated, questioning.

"Bet you don't know huh?" he chuckled a bit. She could see he was nervous. "We are divided into two teams. To make it simple, there're the team who know everything, and the team who doesn't know a thing. Our jobs is to do standard labor. You see, I fix the camera and everything, but I can't see the records. The guy with the laptop you saw earlier, he can. He's on the other team. But he has a loose mouth, I get to hear interesting things from time to time if we're working together like this." He explained.

"Are you alright with telling me all of this?" she asked. He wasn't the type to keep things to himself also.

"I need someone to talk to, you know." He grinned at her. She rolled her eyes and muttered a thanks.

"I need to go, it's our prince's lunch time." she said. "thanks for telling me all this, I'll see you later." she excused herself. He suddenly called her again,

"Hey, one more thing." he said. She halted and turned to him. "Do you know why they picked us out of hundreds of people in this place?" he asked in a tone that made her shuddered. "I found out our similarities. We don't have any relatives. Creepy isn't it?" He told her. If he looked closely, the nurse already visibly paled. She didn't say a thing after that. "Well, see you later." He picked up his tool bag and walked away.

* * *

"You don't have to walk me home, Fuji." Tezuka suddenly said as they walked down the road. Fuji smiled at him,

"Do we need to discuss this again, Tezuka?" he asked. "I'm concerned about your wellbeing. Something might happen when you walk home." he explained. Tezuka shook his head,

"We passed the way to your house," he said. Fuji tilted his head and pouted slightly,

"I told you I don't mind. Or you don't want me to?" Fuji asked with a mock sad tone.

"I've never said that." Tezuka replied a bit too quickly. Fuji smiled wider.

"Then it's settled." He continued to walk beside his best friend, humming happily.

Tezuka quietly sighed. He didn't make any more comment after that and continued to walk by his side. He was glad Fuji insisted on going home with him. He was feeling well of course, but it was nice to have him there. Fuji always kept him company everywhere since their first year. Despite their class differences, they could always found time to visit each other. At least they were able to see each other at Tennis practice.

Tezuka never wanted to impose on his best friend, no matter how much he enjoyed the other's presence beside him. Sometimes he forgot to reconsider that the feeling was mutual. Fuji also liked to be in Tezuka's company. He wasn't as boring as everyone thought he was. At first Tezuka was afraid he might bore Fuji with his passiveness, or he might hurt his friend's feeling because of his indifference. He seemed to lack empathy and emotion. People never avoided him, but they also never found pleasure socializing with someone like him.

It wasn't like he hated talking. He just found that it was a meaningless activity as long as it didn't serve any purpose or importance. He learnt that too much words could hurt because sometimes you might said something you didn't mean. Fuji knew this and started to fish words out of Tezuka more often. Because the stoic boy was so honest.

While Tezuka didn't like talking that much, Fuji didn't need to talk to have fun. He had a lot more ways to entertain himself. He always in an ecstatic mood everywhere. After a while Tezuka realized, that Fuji seemed the happiest when they were together. And Tezuka was very comfortable being around him.

Oishi was one of Tezuka's closest friend too. While they had a great mutual understanding, they never considered each other's presence as fun. It was purely respect and shared interests, and Tezuka liked it also. But Fuji was different. Tezuka found his company very entertaining.

"This is it." Fuji said as he halted his step in front of a gate. Tezuka's family name was carved on the hanging plate.

"You want to go in?" Tezuka offered.

"No, maybe some other time," Fuji smiled and took a step back. "Oh, I forgot to return your jacket!" he exclaimed, suddenly remembering.

"It's alright, Fuji. You can return it later." Tezuka said. "I can walk you back to your home tomorrow or the day after, then you can return it." he offered. It was very unlike him to suggest something so impractical. They could do that at school anyway. But Fuji smiled again, happy to hear the suggestion.

"Alright then, see you tomorrow." Fuji bid him goodbye. Tezuka replied and told him to be careful on his way back.

* * *

"Rewind the tape again, I want to see when he came in," a voice ordered. The woman working at the surveillance room didn't have a choice but to obey. He insisted on checking the corridor cameras since the video from the camera inside the ward was too dark to make anything out of it.

"We've been at this for hours. It's a boy with a white shirt, using a loose size jacket. From what the attending nurse said, he accidentally spilled some juice on his bed and got lost when he tried to find a washroom," the man who was operating the laptop earlier told him. He met the nurse when he installed the camera with his partner. His good for nothing partner told him what the nurse know. "She said the boy was really harmless, he knew nothing. It is best to leave him be." He added. But the boss didn't seem convinced at all. He was stubborn and irrational sometimes.

"I only ask you to find out his identity. I don't care if he's only a harmless five-year toddler. I want to know." His tone was harsh and low, almost like a growl. The technician fell silent after that and continued looking at the monitors.

It was nearly impossible. The boy was wearing a blue oversized jacket and a white shirt beneath, too common. He was holding a vase of tulips also. They couldn't possibly identify every ward that had the yellow flowers, there were hundreds of them, and it was days ago, people came and went back home.

The woman was sweating bullets, trying to find a clue. The boss was also staring intently at the monitors as they keep rewinding the same video over and over. Two man clad in black suits were standing behind him. They were his trusted men, the ones who manage the teams and giving out orders. Their looks were quite handsome, though the western outfit contrasted the japanese vibe they had. They were seen outside this hidden room sometimes, either in casual outfit or suits alike, conversing with the nurses and patients.

"There." the boss suddenly moved closer to one of the monitor. It showed a nurse halting her step midway, apparently shocked to see someone in the room. The blurred figure of the boy seemed like bowing, nervously turning around. "Rewind a few seconds, and slow it down," he directed. She obeyed and slowed the video and played it backwards. She could see blurred bits of the boy stepping out of the door, backing away from the nurse, then his back for a millisecond faced the camera. The woman gasped as he saw this.

"This is it," she said as she hit the pause button. Part of her wanted to ignore this finding, but the boss already seen it. The paused frame in the video displayed the letters on his back.

"Now, zoom." The boss instructed. She complied and scrolled the button under her finger. The image was so hazy, blurred in pixels. But the writing was large enough to read. Designs of white, blue, and red imprinted on the jacket.

_Seishun Gakuen_

* * *

**Thanks for reading. :)**

**Next issue: **Another victim was found. Tezuka went back to the previous hospital for health follow up and Fuji decided to look for him there. Hide and seek ensued.


	3. Chapter 3

**Thank you for reading and reviewing. Sorry it took a long time to update. I typed them on my smart phone, but I still had to use MsWord grammar tool for editing. I need 2 hours to edit. If you still find anything wrong, please tell me. I'll do my best to improve.**

* * *

**Chapter 03**

* * *

_... the street where the accident happened was closed from public temporarily. The witness claimed the car crashed right into a telephone pole without even showing a sign of stopping. "It was like that car was planning to hit that thing from the start," a local citizen said. The driver was confirmed died on the spot, while the passenger was actually alive and immediately taken to Hara Central Hospital. The unfortunate girl, Fujisaki Mio, age 15, apparently lived only for a few hours before she passed away. The hospital has yet to confirm any other cause of death. The victim's family demanded an autopsy. The authorities had already..._

"Shuusuke, you're going to be late." Fuji Yumiko said as she took the plate in front of his younger brother. Fuji folded the newspaper.

"It's still early, Nee-san." Fuji replied. Yumiko only shrugged and went to the sink. "I'm waiting for someone anyway," he added. She stopped rinsing the plates for a while. That piqued her interest.

"Oh, your date?" she asked. That's new.

Fuji rolled his eyes, "no, it's Tezuka," he told her.

"So? What's the difference?" She replied with a smile, an infuriating meaningful smile.

"Very funny, Nee-san." Fuji looked at the clock, "I think you're going to be late for work." Yumiko had finished doing the dishes, stacking the last plate at the tray. She untied her kitchen apron and hung it on the wall.

"Alright. See you later, Shuusuke." She said and left the kitchen. Fuji exhaled and shook his head. "Oh, and don't forget to say hello to _your date _for me." Her head peeked cutely behind the door. Fuji quickly turned around to respond, shifting from his chair.

"He's not my-" he raised his voice but his sister wasn't there anymore. He could hear the front door closed, and then the engine started. He sighed and continued to read the newspaper.

* * *

_"Your bento looks nice!"_

_"Hey, do you hear the news on TV?"_

_"No way, for real?"_

It was lunch time. Tezuka was walking among crowds in the cafeteria, which was full at moment. There were people chattering everywhere. He hated crowds, so he seldom eating here. But he needed to find his teammates. He spotted Fuji, Inui, Eiji, and Oishi at the far corner of the room. They seemed to talk about something important. Tezuka approached them.

"Tezuka!" They all greeted him as he sat down, placing his bento on the table.

"Tezuka's bento!" Eiji chirped. All attention turned toward the lunch box in front of Tezuka. The captain regretted to eat here immediately.

"What do you bring today?" Oishi asked. Tezuka didn't answer and opened the lid hesitantly. They looked at the dish in astonishment.

"Ii data." Inui said as he took notes using his right hand, and still eating curry with his left. Fuji held back a chuckle.

"How are you going to eat that, Tezuka?" Fuji asked, half teasing and half curious. There were soft rice, potatoes, sauces, chunks of soft chicken, practically a toddler's food. Oishi was still staring at the unusually plain meal.

"No meat, no veggies, no hard textured food. Are you sure you're not having any serious bowel disease?" The vice-captain asked him, genuinely worried.

"No, but my mother claimed it was necessary," he said and picked up his chopsticks, "itadakimasu," he said politely and started eating, determined to ignore anymore comments from them. Fuji smiled beside him and continued to eat his miso soup.

"Ne, there're so many people talking about the recent accident." Fuji commented as he looked around them.

"Well, accident happens. It's regretfully a weekly thing nowadays. But what makes this one rather important is Fujisaki Mio. She is apparently quite famous from what I've heard." Oishi answered. Eiji nodded at that.

"I heard she had just started her debut in modeling. I've seen her in an ice cream advertisement once. She's so pretty, it's too bad she died that way." Eiji whined and started picking on his food. He reached for a soy sauce bottle. Fuji passed it to him, knowing the food must be agonizingly plain, even to someone like Tezuka.

"I read the newspaper in the morning. Her parents asked for autopsy, because they suspect the cause of death. But it has yet to be confirmed, the hospital said." Fuji told them. Inui pushed his tray away and took out his notebook.

"Well of course. Autopsy is an examination needed to identify manner of death. It can be done if there's an order coming from authorities, and usually it is used for investigation purpose. So when there's an unnatural death, there'll be an autopsy performed on the dead body." Inui explained to them, "The hospital may decline if there's no legal instruction for that, regardless of the family's request." he added. They hummed and nodded as Inui spoke.

"But there're rumors about drugs and murders too behind this you know. It seemed that she was involved with yakuza or something." Eiji said in a low voice. Tezuka frowned at that. If anything, he disliked gossip, because those kinds of talks were mostly fabrications and cruel. Eiji noticed the captain's expression and stopped talking immediately.

"Oishi." Tezuka suddenly said, demanding attention from the vice-captain, "I need you to inform the rest of the teammate that I won't be attending practice today. I'll leave the regulars' and the first and second year's training to you."

"Ah, that's fine. I'll do it. But where are you going Tezuka?" Oishi asked, a bit worried.

"I need to do something important, and I've informed Ryuuzaki-sensei," he replied. Before they could add anything else and ask any more questions, Tezuka stood up and excused himself.

"Nya... Fujiko, do you think he's okay?" Eiji asked. Fuji seemed to not listen.

"I'm going first!" The honey haired boy said, suddenly stood up and went after Tezuka. He paused a while to turn around and smiled, waved a little, then hastily turned away. Eiji and Oishi reluctantly lifted their hand and waved back to the now empty spot. Inui tapped the pen he was holding to his chin.

"Ii data."

* * *

"Tezuka!"

Tezuka turned around as he heard a familiar voice calling him. It was Fuji, running after him. "Fuji?"

"Ne, are you alright?"

"Aa, I'm fine."

"Where're you going? We're supposed to go home together, remember?" Fuji reminded him.

"..."

"You forgot." Fuji sighed. The captain was afraid if he had hurt his friend. Tezuka stared at the blue eyed teenager, a bit longer and unresponsive.

"I forgot." He finally admitted. Fuji tried to stiffle laughter.

"You forgot?" He repeated with an amazed expression, as if it was impossible for Tezuka to forget something.

"I'm sorry."

Fuji looked at him and smiled again, "it's fine, really. I'm just worried." He said truthfully. "Are you alright, Tezuka?" The captain had to look away from the genuine concern in Fuji's eyes.

"I was going to do a checkup at the hospital."

"Are you hurt? Is it your arm?" Fuji asked again as he stared at Tezuka's left hand.

"No, it's not." He replied. The captain lifted his right hand and held his left elbow. It was pretty much healed already after his treatment in German. It was an unforgettable experience, the injury and the effect it caused to him, and everyone around him. From what Tezuka deducted, his best friend was still holding a grudge against Atobe Keigo.

"So it's the food poisoning then?" Fuji asked curiously. Tezuka tried to ignore him. "Ne, are you hurting somewhere?" he insisted. Tezuka looked at him again. It wasn't going to end until he answered.

"I still have cramps." he admitted slowly, looking ahead as they walked. "My stomach aches a bit." He added. Fuji grinned widely.

"Even you can get a cramp. Ne, are you having diarrhea also?" Fuji was back into his teasing mood. If the captain was capable in expressing more facial emotions, he'd blush in embarrassment. Fuji was still smiling at his side, walking happily beside him. Tezuka let out an almost inaudible sigh and ignored him along the way.

He shouldn't have told Fuji that trivial fact, which only induced more teasings. But Tezuka Kunimitsu couldn't lie to anyone, and in front of Fuji Shuusuke, not only Tezuka couldn't lie, but he also couldn't refuse to answer. He was simply incapable to do so.

* * *

"Change courts! Both of you stop fighting with each other!" Ryuuzaki bellowed at Kaidou and Momoshiro. They started bickering again

Fuji watched the entire scene with Echizen by his side. They were sitting on the bench. Both were paired up as practice partner and still recuperating from a vigorous match. Ryuuzaki told them to improve their strength in swinging racquets, not that they were lacking of course, because sometimes power was needed in tennis besides skills.

"Senpai, there's an empty court right there. Let's have another match." Ryoma offered as he served an empty ponta can to a trash can, which earned him a death glare from Ryuuzaki.

"Echizen, your energy is surely indispensable." Fuji said. Ryoma snorted at that.

"Fuji-senpai I know you're not tired yet." The cocky junior pointed out. Fuji smiled at him,

"Smooth, okay?" he finally agreed. Ryoma smiled back and stood up. He picked up his racquet and put on his cap like usual.

Fuji stared at Ryoma's customary gesture and at the same time saw something different. He couldn't help but feeling that disturbing sense of familiarity at the way the white cap rested perfectly on the junior's hat. It was a feeling of _d__eja vu_, a repeated memory in your mind, a feeling like you've seen something or you've been in a similar situation before. But he couldn't grasp what it was.

"Fuji senpai?" Ryoma snapped him out of his thought. Fuji didn't know why he was feeling like that every time he saw Ryoma these days.

"Let's go." Fuji picked up his own racquet and walked to the court. He decided to ignore it.

* * *

It was pouring hard. The rain didn't look like it would stop anytime soon. Fuji sighed as he walked back to the club room and took out a neatly folded umbrella from his locker. It was a handy umbrella, dark brown with white lines decorating the edge. Fuji didn't like the extra baggage of carrying an umbrella everywhere, no matter how small and convenient it was. Despite being a genius, he was not the type of person who would prepare an umbrella before it truly rained. He believed there'd be shelter out there somewhere. Lucky for him it was raining before he went home. Luck was always on his side anyway.

Fuji closed the locker and picked up his school bag. He stopped suddenly. Inui was standing in front of him, offering a folded navy blue umbrella to him. He recognized that color and whom it belonged to.

"I have mine, Inui." He said, lifting the brown umbrella on his left hand.

"This is Tezuka's," Inui told him. "I borrowed it 2 weeks ago, and apparently forgot to return it." He explained. Unbelievable.

"I know it's his. But why are you giving it to me?" Fuji asked. He didn't move to take the umbrella offered to him. Inui liked to scheme things.

"I heard it from Ryuuzaki-sensei about his checkup today. I thought you're going to visit him." Inui said, swinging the blue thing in front of Fuji.

"Well, I wasn't planning to. How can you be so sure?" Fuji asked the bespectacled teenager. Inui shrugged,

"I'm twenty percent sure you'll visit him straight after this. And there are forty-seven percent possibilities that you'll walk home _and_ decide to take a detour halfway back. The rest will be you're not going at all." Inui explained, smiling at him. Fuji chuckled at that.

"In other words, you're sixty-seven percent sure that I'm going to visit him after this anyway. When the truth is, I wasn't even planning to visit him before you showed up," he told him and took the umbrella. Inui grinned.

"That makes it a hundred then."

"Not really, what if I die on the way there?"

"That's unfortunate." Inui replied to the joke attempt as he locked the door behind them. Fuji chuckled at his apathetic respond. If it was Tezuka, he would definitely scold Fuji for that kind of stupid and irresponsible joke. Maybe he should check on his captain after all.

"See you later, Inui." Fuji said as he walked into the rain. Inui watched until the navy blue umbrella disappeared from his sight.

* * *

"I should've waited a bit longer at school." Fuji muttered as he shook the umbrella and put it away. His shirt was a bit drenched, but not entirely, thanks to the umbrella, but it was quite wet. The weather was cold. He went through the automatic glass door and looked around.

The hospital was crowded. No, crowded was an understatement. It was really full to the extent Fuji found it suffocating. Probably because of the rain, visitors were unable to go home. Fuji walked pass the emergency room and into a large corridor. He saw signs on each department he passed. There were 'pediatrics', 'pediatric surgery', 'neonatal care', after a while he realized there were too many kids and babies around him. He must be at the wrong side. He squinted his eyes and read a large sign on the corner beside a large arrow pointer.

_Internal Medicine_

_Gastroenterology_

_Immunology_

_Pulmonology _

_Cardiology_

Fuji knew what each of them meant, but he wasn't sure where Tezuka would be. Where would you go for food poisoning? He thought maybe he should have waited at the entrance. He strode through the hall until he saw a bright sign with 'INFORMATION' written in two languages, English and Japanese. He hastily moved toward the place. It was less populated than at the entrance. He walked too fast and someone bumped him from the left. Apparently both weren't paying much attention. Fuji quickly turned around and apologized.

"I'm sorry. Are you alright?" He asked. The person gasped. It was a woman, a very familiar black haired woman in a nurse outfit. She stared at him for a moment in an utter shock. She quickly regained her composure and grabbed his arm, a bit too harshly.

"What are you doing here?!" Her voice was low, harsh, and uneasy. It was Fuji's turn to be shocked.

"I- I was-"

"No, forget it. You should've never been here." She hissed. She was few inches taller than him and had to incline down to deliver that message in whisper. "Leave," she added. Fuji didn't like this at all. What was going on? Why was this lady overreacting when she saw him? He just came for a visit, and this was a hospital.

"But why?" He asked. She placed her other hand on his shoulder. The wet cloth pressed onto him made him remembered that it had rained earlier.

"Listen, I need you to go home now. I'm sorry. I mean-" she was obviously nervous. Despite her apology, her grip on his arm tightened, disturbing yet not too painful. Fuji waited patiently while she tried to calm herself. The only thing that kept him from shoving her away was the fear and frustration in her eyes as she looked at him.

She seemed to realize her desperate clutch on his cloth and quickly released it. "I'm sorry I was overreacting. Trust me. Please, go home. Now." She repeated, a bit desperate in her absurd persuasion.

"Alright then, miss." Fuji replied, forcing a smile to reassure her. The nurse's tone was harsh earlier, but he could feel that she didn't mean any harm. She was not a bad person, just worried about something. Fuji was unable to grasp the situation but he thought it was best to comply. "Thank you for the other day, I'll be going first." He respectfully bowed his head as he excused himself and went away.

The woman exhaled in relief as he watched the boy's retreating back. She was feeling at ease until she saw two men standing by the emergency exit. Both were wearing male nurse outfit, face covered with green protection mask, watching her.

* * *

"He was the kid from the video right?" one man asked her. He has a light brown hair, not typical for Japanese, yet he got the oriental feature. She had seen him once or twice around here.

"Yes, it's him." She replied calmly, trying to maintain her composure. But meeting the boy earlier threw her off balance. She didn't know why she was following them to the emergency exit. But she thought it was best if she went there and gave the boy some time to leave.

"What was he doing here?" the other man asked her. She recognized the voice. He pulled his mask down, revealing his face. It was the technician the other day.

"How should I know?" she retorted, clearly annoyed.

"Did he tell you anything?" The technician asked her. Then his companion cut the conversation, "did you tell him anything?" he asked accusingly. She glared at him,

"No!" she denied, still staring in disbelief, "what is wrong with you?" She asked defensively.

"You know that no one should know about our job." The brunet warned her. She rolled her eyes impatiently.

"I know that part, you don't have to remind me. But that kid is as clueless as a baby regarding this matter." She replied. This was ridiculous.

"So what was he doing here?" he insisted, again. She was getting more and more irked.

"Are you kidding me? For god sake, this is a hospital. Everybody has their own reason to be here!" She exploded. Her voice echoed in the emergency stairs. The man hushed her immediately.

"Lower your voice." He warned. They could hear the visitors' footsteps and chatterings behind the emergency door.

"Don't you threaten me, I'm sick of your accusation and paranoia!" She ignored his warning and didn't bother lowering her voice. The man with the mask grabbed her wrist, a bit too roughly.

"I told you to lower your voice," he hissed dangerously. She could feel his grip tightened. The other man, the technician, placed his hand on the harsh grip, indicating his companion to let go. The brunet behind the mask relented and complied. "If you highly appreciate your life, you'll behave." He warned her, releasing his grip with a harsh jerk. She stumbled slightly.

"Hey, come one. Let's go." The technician opened the door and steered his companion away. He threw one last sympathetic at the nurse. Their eyes met for a second. Then he exited the room. She waited until the bright red door closed before she slumped against the wall. She was scared.

* * *

On the other side, Fuji was still walking leisurely. He was heading to the entrance where he came from since he left his umbrella there. The large corridors were crowded, lots of sick people and visitors everywhere. He already made his mind to go back home and cancelled his intention to see Tezuka.

Despite his disturbed feeling from the encounter earlier, he decided not to run and rush back home. Fuji looked at the yard from the window. The rain came down in heavy torrent he could barely saw anything. All white, and no pedestrians. He wondered if this continued, they might have to cancel tomorrow's practice.

Fuji was understandably tired. After the strenuous activity earlier with Ryoma, walking all the way here, and standing for almost hours, of course he would feel exhausted. He was so lucky his body was trained excellently at sport, because if he was another person, his legs would've given out earlier. Fuji looked around for vacant seats and found none. There was one at the corner but a mother holding a baby was staring at the place also, so he decided to look elsewhere.

He heard a loud cry from behind him. A toddler was crying in his mother's arm, and beside them, an old woman was coughing violently, and it looked like she would fall any time soon. What disturbed Fuji were the nurses not far from the old woman. Both were male, wearing a white nurse outfit and protection masks. One was a brunet and the other had a jet black hair. Instead of helping the old lady, they were only standing there, staring intently at him. When their eyes met, Fuji quickly looked away.

He had the urge to turn around but decided against it and continued to walk slowly. Though he couldn't see them clearly, they were practically burning holes through his back. It was weird, and he knew they were still watching. He wasn't sure if they were following him. But in case they did,

"Excuse me," Fuji said as he opened the door to a random room. There were kids, knee-high toddlers looking up at him curiously.

"Yes?" A voice answered him. A kind looking nurse wearing a pink uniform strode toward him, a bunny clip hanging on her breast pocket. Fuji concluded he might be in one of those pediatric rooms.

He was still standing on the doorway and holding the handle. "Ah. I..."He tried to find words to say and failed due to his scattered concentrations. He dared to steal a glance behind and saw the two male nurses tailing him, making their ways through the crowd. Fuji quickly let himself in shut the door.

"Can I help you?" the nurse asked again. He forced a smile at her.

"No, I-I'm in the wrong room, sorry. I got lost." Then he noticed a door at the other side of the room. "Can I use the other door? It's too crowded out there." He asked, and briefly glanced through the gap on the blind. Both men were looking left and right, obviously searching for something. When the unmistakable fact dawned on him that it was him they were looking for, he couldn't help but shuddered a little. The nurse didn't take his uneasiness as anything weird. She nodded and smiled, treating him kindly as she treated all the patients around here.

"Yes, you can. It's a small corridor, leading to public rest room. If you turn left and then right, you'll be in the main lobby." She told him. This time he offered her a relieved and gratified smile before quickly exited the room.

Fuji walked past the rest room, which showed 'occupied' red symbol on the knob. He followed her instruction earlier and turned left. It brought him to another spacious corridor. He was about to step out when he spotted a white uniformed male nurse. He quickly retreated into the narrow space and leaned heavily on the wall. He could hear the sound of blood rushing in his ear, and he knew he would faint soon if his heart kept on jumping inside his ribcage. He risked to peek and looked at the male nurse, only to find that it was an entirely another person. The male nurse was alone, holding a box of what looked like fluid bags on his hand. He was not the person from before.

Fuji covered his mouth with his right hand, sighing into his palm. He felt really stupid and helpless at the moment. What was he afraid of? He didn't even know if the men were truly after him or not, but the earlier encounter with the nurse made him so self-conscious. He tried to catch his breath. Even though he didn't run, the whole situation could easily make him hyperventilating. He stepped back toward where he came from. Suddenly a hand touched his shoulder from behind.

"No!" He quickly jerked away and turned around, trying to evade the hand that was touching him. He panicked.

"Fuji!" the other person said, both hands rested on his shoulder now, calming his anxiety. Of course he knew this voice.

He looked up and saw the familiar face of his best friend. "Tezuka...?" His voice was soft and a bit desperate, as if he was trying to make sure that it was really his captain. Fuji was so relieved his legs almost gave out. Tezuka noticed the tense shoulder under his hand gradually calmed. "It's you." Fuji said. The captain couldn't dismiss the obvious relieved tone in his friend's voice.

"What happened?" He asked that instead of 'what are you doing here'. Fuji shrugged.

"Nothing. I was just surprised. You snuck up on me," he replied and looked away.

"I didn't." Tezuka replied, eyes still fixed on his slightly agitated feature. His hands were still on the shorter boy's shoulder. Fuji lifted his head and looked at him. Even though Tezuka's facial expression showed his usual passiveness and indifference, Fuji could see a glint of worry in his eyes.

"Then I must've been spacing out." He forced a smile, only realizing a moment ago that he failed to smile like he always did. "I'm alright, just a bit tired." He assured. If Tezuka was unconvinced, he didn't push it.

"Why are you here?" The captain finally asked, lowering his hands from the shorter boy's shoulder.

"I was looking for you. Inui gave me your umbrella. I left it outside." He answered. Tezuka only nodded. "Are you done? Can we go now?" Fuji asked and immediately cursed inwardly at the slight desperation in his words.

"Aa," was Tezuka's only reply and he let Fuji dragged him outside.

Tezuka didn't make any comment after that. Though Fuji was gradually eased and relaxed as they walked, Tezuka couldn't help but feeling worried. They had been best friend for years. Even though they were pretty close, they rarely touch each other except for a mere calling gesture on the shoulder, handshakes after match, accidental brushes, and other trivial touches. Tezuka never touched anyone unnecessarily and so did Fuji. But now Fuji was dragging him out of the hospital, gripping Tezuka's wrist strongly with his smaller hand.

Despite the unfamiliar feeling, Tezuka didn't shake the hand away and let Fuji led him further before finally letting go. He wasn't going to assess whether he hated the gesture or not, at least not right now, because at the moment his attention was focused on Fuji and what had made his friend this way.

The weather was still unfriendly, and it was obvious to him that the wind would blow waters if they leave now. But Tezuka still picked up his own umbrella and followed Fuji outside. Together they walked home silently under the heavy rain.

* * *

**Next issue: **'They' were still looking for the light haired boy with only a single clue, the blue jacket. A sudden appearance of a suspicious stranger outside the court alerted the regulars. Ryoma showed his dislike, Oishi was worried, Inui watched, and Tezuka confronted.


	4. Chapter 4

**Chapter 04**

Oishi watched the first years practice in the morning. Class on Saturday wouldn't start until 9. Sometimes he'd just watch, and sometimes he approached them and taught them how to grip the racquet properly. They were pretty enthusiastic and diligent. But talents were something else, and only a few of them showed the natural gift of playing tennis.

A noisy sound was heard from the trash can. Oishi spotted the suspect immediately.

"Echizen, can't you just put the empty can into the trash bin normally?" he asked. The junior only grinned and started playing with his racquet. He was balancing the tennis ball on the tip of his racquet, tossing it accurately.

Oishi sighed and shook his head. Compared to the other juniors that were obediently practicing, it was really easy to forget that Echizen Ryoma was still in his first year. He was cocky, rebellious, annoying, yet unnaturally talented at this particular sport.

"Senpai, do you know who that person is?" Ryoma asked as he approached Oishi, still hitting the ball without looking at it. Oishi turned toward him.

"Who?" He asked. Ryoma shrugged and cocked his head to the left side.

"He has been there all this time, even before we arrived." The junior told him. He was the first to arrive after all.

The vice-captain glanced at the opposite side of the court. A man was standing behind the safety net. He was wearing a black jacket and a dark pant. Oishi couldn't see his face clearly. He was using a dark green cap and a protection mask, a warm and heavy-looking outfit, as if he was having a cold. But a person with a cold wouldn't stand there for almost one and a half hour, wouldn't he?

At first people might think he was just watching the club members' practice. But then the man would look around from time to time, obviously searching for something, or someone. Oishi couldn't help but feeling a bit worried. The stranger was indeed suspicious. He gulped a little and walked toward the man. But Ryoma beat him to it.

The suspicious man yelped as a tennis ball hit the net right in front of him. Ryoma casually waved his hand and apologized lazily.

"Sorry, old man!" He shouted his not-so-sincere apology. The man cursed before he turned away. Oishi shook his head and scolded his junior. Even though the stranger gave all reasons they needed to be cautious, he wasn't necessarily a bad person.

"Echizen, that wasn't nice."

"I wasn't trying to be nice at all." He replied with a shrug and returned to tossing the ball again.

"But Echize-"

"Oishi!" The vice-captain felt a huge impact on his shoulder, but not enough to tackle him to the ground. He turned his head to see his doubles partner. Eiji was the only one he knew who liked to tackle-glomp people every so often.

"Eiji..." Oishi sighed, but he didn't shove the energetic boy away.

"Ne, Oishi, guess what am I doing earlier!" he said excitedly, releasing Oishi from his grasp.

"Running around?"

"Mou... I was helping the student council committee in the festival's preparation!" He slightly pouted at his best friend. Oishi smiled and nodded.

'Ah.. that festival.'

"You know, they chose me as the representative from my class. I'm so happy I can help." Eiji grinned. "There'll be firework you know, fireworks!" He told his best friend.

"Eiji-senpai, they chose you?" Ryoma suddenly asked him. Eiji pouted at his junior and grabbed the ball he was currently tossing.

"Ochibi, you're so mean!" he whined. Ryoma held out his racquet, asking for the ball. Eiji refused to give him.

"Eiji..." Oishi took the ball from his hand and tossed it lightly to Ryoma. The junior instantly played with it again.

"I know. They originally asked Fujiko anyway. But Fujiko refused, saying he's not interested."

"I see..." Ryoma said with a smirk. Eiji fumed at the obvious sarcasm.

"Ochibi!" Ryoma chuckled and backed away quickly before Eiji snatched his tennis ball again.

"Eiji, have you seen Tezuka?" Oishi asked.

"He's still in the student council room earlier. He is soooo busy." Eiji replied. Oishi felt bad for their captain, he must be very tired. Tezuka never missed morning practice before, even though it was not in their routine schedule. Oishi thought he might as well help their captain with tennis practice. He was the vice-captain after all.

"Alright! Let's train to serve!" Oishi suddenly said, gathering the first years. Eiji bounced by his side, excitedly helping him instructing their juniors.

* * *

The school always held a formal ceremony and celebration every year for its anniversary. But this year it would be different, because it was the 50th. It was half a century. "-and that will require something _special _and memorable." That was what the headmaster said to the students. The headmaster himself, members of the board committee, members of parent-student association, and the teachers were participating in the preparation, mostly the funding. They highly supported the upcoming festival.

Yes.

A festival.

A festival was a fun event. It was meant to celebrate, to have fun, to be happy about, but apparently not to the members of the student council, especially their president.

Tezuka Kunimitsu was still a proud member of the student council, and their president no less. He rarely complained about his duty, but the truth was, festival was not his forte much less his interest. Festival tended to be noisy, crowded, and troublesome. The teachers condemned the arrangement and preparations solely to the student. 'A school festival has to be prepared by the students. We, the people from older generations, will appreciate the taste of youth in this event.' This was quoted from the representative teacher as she informed the student council members.

Even though they called this a small gathering or festival, the celebration would last for three days. The first day would be the usual ceremony after school. The second day would be a massive lunch arrangement, and fortunately the parent-student association would handle this one. The third day, the final and the most important day, would be a bonfire and firework festival. The last event would be prepared by the student.

Being the president meant he must take responsibility of all the works, but it didn't mean that he should do all the hard labors by himself. Instead of having each class presented something like in the summer festival, they'd pick representatives from each class and they'd work out the final event together. Tezuka already organized the groups and each of their assignments in the festivals. But he still had to supervise everything, to control and make sure nothing went wrong. And for that reason he had to be there on every single meeting.

It was tiring.

"Tezuka-senpai, I already made the list of firework shows and the type of fireworks that will be used. Will you check it?" a dark brown haired girl with glasses gave him a stack of papers, neatly clipped. Tezuka was thankful he had diligent and devoted members to rely on.

"Thank you, Suzuki-san," he took the papers and shoved it into his bag. The girl bowed awkwardly at him and left to join her groups. Tezuka looked at his watch. It was time for morning tennis practice. It was not in the regulars' routine, but the captain still felt bad for not attending.

After the meeting finished, Tezuka quickly excused himself.

He was thankful that this would be a closed celebration. Unlike other school events, this time it wouldn't be open for public. There would still be invitations of course, but only for the alumni, school's older generations of students and teachers. This would become a very great all-generation-get-together.

He didn't want to admit it, but he was looking forward to the third day himself. Fireworks sounded nice.

* * *

"Excuse me, have you seen Fuji?"

"Oh, Tezuka. Yes, he's talking with Okazaki in our class."

Tezuka thanked the girl, whom he recognized as Fuji's classmate, before he made his way to the classroom.

The festival was not the only thing he worked on currently. The tennis team would hold a friendly match against St. Rudolph and Hyoutei. There were originally 5 schools, including Rikkadai and Fudoumine, but they cancelled two weeks prior. Though it was the other schools' request for the friendly after-national game, Seishun Gakuen kindly offered to host the game at the school. It was decided a month ago, before the headmaster suddenly announced the whole festival thing last week.

Tezuka's positions as a student council president and as the captain of Seigaku tennis team were starting to weigh on him right now. All these activities would cost him a lot of time. Usually it didn't really matter. He was more than capable of doing everything. But he was just discharged from hospital, and even though he was more than healthy right now, his mother wouldn't stop bothering him constantly about his health.

The tennis event with Hyoutei would be held in a week from now, and the match with St. Rudolph three days after. They already finished most preparation 3 weeks ago, but for the team and training menu, he'd have to ask for help, preferably Inui and Oishi. And there were several equipment and facility checks to go through, reports, formal administrations work, and there would be a brief visit to Hyoutei and St. Rudolph to discuss it.

He really needed to ask for help.

There were choices he could make from the regulars to take care of those details. But the thought of sending people other than Oishi worried him. Kaidou Kaoru, Momoshiro Takeshi, Kawamura Takashi, 'no they couldn't' he thought grimly. Echizen Ryoma was not even on the list. He'd be asking for a battle right there and then before discussing about the upcoming match. Fuji was his second choice after Oishi. Even though Fuji might seem like the least option because of his unpredictable mood and behaviors, he could bring himself nicely into serious conversation if he wanted to.

_If _he wanted to.

* * *

It was the school break time. Fuji was sitting on seat in the middle of the class, not in his usual by the window spot. He was chatting happily with a girl when Tezuka entered. The few girls in the class started giggling and whispering when they saw the handsome student council president. Fuji noticed the change in the atmosphere and spotted the center of the attention.

"Tezuka." He addressed the taller boy. The girl who had been talking to Fuji earlier ended their conversation and nodded politely to Tezuka. Despite being known for his stoic attitude, Tezuka was also known for his manners. He also nodded at the girl. Fuji chuckled at that awkward interaction. If Tezuka could loosen up a bit, he might get himself a girlfriend already.

"That was Okazaki, a representative from our class along with Eiji. She told me that she was in the group that will handle the food preparation for the firework night." Fuji told Tezuka, who was trying not to flinch when he receive that information. If he was capable in showing raw emotion, he'd gawk.

The Okazaki girl must not know Fuji enough to actually confide in him regarding food matters. The regulars and most of Fuji's friends already knew about his unnatural choice in food. Tezuka made a mental note to talk to the group that handles the food preparation later. More work.

"Anyway... What brings you here, Tezuka?" Fuji asked him. Tezuka sat on the vacant seat beside him.

"I want to talk about something," he said. Fuji's blue eyes focused on Tezuka's and his body was slightly turned toward the other, giving his full attention. Tezuka paused for a moment before asking, "How are you today?"

That was not what he expected.

"Err... fine?" Fuji didn't know how to respond to that. Tezuka was actually asking for his well being out of the blue. "You only want to ask me that? Thank you, Ne. I'm fine." He grinned. Tezuka immediately regretted asking him.

He could judge by himself that Fuji looked more than alright at the moment. Unlike yesterday, Tezuka recalled, Fuji looked so much disturbed and nervous at the hospital that he practically dragged Tezuka home. But it looked like Fuji didn't even remember yesterday's event. So Tezuka let it go for now and returned to his first purpose.

"No. I need your help."

"Really? Tezuka Kunimitsu needs my help?"

"Nevermind."

"Wow, Tezuka is sulking."

"Fuji." Tezuka's tone full of warning. The shorter boy chuckled and raised his hand in defeat.

"Okay, I'm sorry. You're so much fun to tease." Fuji told him, still smiling. Tezuka suddenly felt maybe it was wrong to ask Fuji for help. "What is it?" Fuji asked again before he could reconsider.

Tezuka explained about his schedule in student council, and about the preparation for their upcoming match with Hyoutei and St. Rudolph. He asked Fuji to help him visiting both schools, preparing for reports and administrations, and discussing all of it directly with their coach. When Fuji didn't show any disagreement, Tezuka continued to explain the details. The blue eyed boy responded by nodding attentively sometimes.

"I can handle it, Tezuka. Don't worry." Fuji smiled, reassuring the not-so-convinced captain. "Besides, I'll be more than happy to visit St. Rudolph-" oh right, Fuji Yuuta was studying there. "-and Hyoutei."

That didn't sound good.

"Fuji."

"I'm not going to do anything bad to Atobe."

"I haven't said anything about Atobe."

"Oh, right." Fuji smiled sheepishly. Tezuka shook his head.

Fuji disliked Atobe very much. Ever since the match months ago, resulted in Tezuka's injury that made him had to go to German for recovery, Fuji had blamed Atobe Keigo ever since. It wasn't like Fuji openly showed hostility toward the Hyoutei captain, but Tezuka always noticed his disapproving look every time the rich boy was around.

"Don't worry Tezuka," he said and chuckled softly again, "I'm not going to add more worries to your already burdened mind," he told the captain.

"Thank you, Fuji." He said gratefully.

"Ne, if you need my help for other things. Even though it's only small things, I'll help." He said again. "I know you've been busy. And it won't do us much good if you collapse. So just ask, alright?" Tezuka almost smiled at that. He always received thoughtless offers of helps from a lot of people, just for the sake of saying it and not truly wanting to help. He'd always dismissed them with equally thoughtless thanks and never took their offer until now. But Tezuka knew Fuji better. If Fuji said he'd help then he would. Tezuka could always rely on him.

"I'll let you know. Thank you." He said for the second time and received another warm smile from his best friend.

* * *

The last bell was heard. School was over for today. Most students started flooding the front gate, excited about going home. Only small parts of people stay, mostly for club activities, like tennis for example. Practice would start in 15 minutes.

Inui was scribbling something on his notebook, writing in surprising calmness, unlike his inhuman writing speed when he was in the middle of collecting data. He was probably trying to analyze problems, because he was stopping every 15 seconds or so. A few feet from where Inui stood, Ryoma was sitting on the court floor, gulping a can of grape ponta leisurely, glancing at Inui's direction sometimes. If he showed any further interest in Inui's activity, he didn't show it.

Instead of watching the bespectacled boy, Ryoma found something more interesting. It was that man again, standing right on the same spot. He crushed the Ponta can with his hand and took his racquet. Everyone who knew Ryoma would guess what'd happen. But before he could serve the can, the captain came into his view, steadily approaching him.

"Do you know him, Echizen?" Tezuka asked as he put down his tennis gear. Ryoma shrugged.

"I don't know. I saw him this morning, and scared him away. Now he returns, very suspicious." The junior answered. He took 2 long strides toward the garbage bin, put away the empty ponta can, and returned. Usually he would just throw it, but not in Tezuka's vicinity. Inui walked up to them unannounced.

"He might be a reporter, or people from sport agency trying to scout someone, or he happens to know a student and is looking for him or her right now. Everything's possible. But I agree with Echizen, his demeanor and gestures were really suspicious." Inui stated and stopped writing. He turned to Tezuka, "maybe you should know, he seemed to budge an inch when you entered just now. Maybe he was looking for you." Inui told him.

"Maybe it was because I rouse his attention when I entered, it could be anyone." Tezuka stated calmly. Inui shrugged and wrote some more, occasionally drifting his gaze to the suspicious man, who was still standing quietly behind the fence, unaware of the fact that the three members were watching him silently. He had no reaction for a good 10 minutes until someone called from behind.

"Tezuka! Inui!" Inui recognized the voice as Fuji Syusuke's. But what caught his attention more was the sudden departure of the suspicious man, right after he saw the tensai entered the court.

"Now that was interesting..." Inui murmured as he hastily scribbled on his book. Tezuka also saw the man's retreating figure. He really didn't like it. He turned to Fuji, who was walking toward them, wearing the regular's blue tennis jacket, and then to the empty spot where the suspicious guy had been few seconds ago.

Coincidences.

But Tezuka would never let his guard down.

* * *

When the practice was over, it was already 5 PM. The sky had slightly darkened. Night fell fast these days. Tezuka dismissed the entire team.

"I'll be going first then, Tezuka. Don't forget to lock up." He heard Oishi said. He only nodded in affirmation. He closed his locker door and picked up his bag. Fuji said he would wait at the front gate.

Tezuka closed the changing room door and locked it. He made his way down the court one last time to check, being the responsible captain he was. He noticed the earlier man was back. He was standing and observing despite there was no one else around. Tezuka decided to find out who he was. He quickly slipped through the side gate and walked to the spot behind the net quietly. The man didn't notice that he was there until Tezuka stood right beside him,

"Can I help you?" He asked. The man was shocked, but he didn't move, although he was clearly nervous when he saw Tezuka. Their eyes met for a second. From up close, their height difference was insignificant. Tezuka was a tall built for a junior high student, and he knew he could defend himself in case the other tried anything funny. He was prepared for whatever comes when the man suddenly turned around, walking hastily.

He was about to after when a voice called him, "Tezuka! What are you doing there?" Tezuka turned and looked at the court. Fuji was standing there, waving his hand. "Just wait, I'll be there." Fuji added before Tezuka could response. He watched Fuji turned away, and realized he was standing outside the safety fence right now.

Tezuka could still saw the earlier man's retreating back. He noticed the man halted for a moment, eyes lingering obviously on Fuji. He stared quite long enough, as if he was thinking while observing. When Fuji was not in sight anymore, he continued to walk away. The man stole a glance behind toward Tezuka and met the unwavering hazel eyes behind the glasses. The man quickly turned around again and quickened his pace, turning left on the next corner and disappearing out of sight.

From their talk with Inui and Echizen earlier, this man might be after someone from this school. It might be Fuji Syusuke. He was not exaggerating that fact, considering how the man suspiciously acted before. Tezuka unconsciously clenched his fist. The guy could be a scout, reporter, relatives, or anyone without potential dangers. He didn't fully certain about his judgments, but he couldn't help but feeling worried.

"Tezuka?" Fuji was arrived on the spot and called him back from his thoughts. "Can we go now?" He asked again. Tezuka noticed his own tense composure and immediately relaxed. He didn't fully let the previous matter go, but for now it seemed alright. Tezuka just couldn't afford to be careless.

"Aa." He responded and they started walking home together.

* * *

"Shit!" he cursed. He took crumpled papers from his pocket, which turned out to be two pictures. One of them was a very blurry and pixelate picture of a boy, holding a vase of tulips, with his back facing the camera. Japanese letters of 'Seishun Gakuen' was printed there. From his recent observation, the blue jacket turned out to be this school's tennis jacket, and it seemed like only several people wore them.

The boy in the picture could be in high school or middle school, or even elementary. He had a small build, and considering the nurse keep on referring him as 'boy' and 'kid', he might be just a middle school student.

There were this first year high school student he suspected and two other middle school students he saw on the way here, and then he met another almost fitting image on the entrance. Too many possibilities. But the rough silhouette in the picture looked like the honey haired boy he spotted earlier. His height and chin-length hair was very similar. Even though he couldn't really make it out from the blurred picture, he had seen the short video footage, and he already caught a glimpse of the boy the last time he was chasing him in the hospital to perfectly fitted the image in his mind. This boy earlier could easily became his prime suspect for now.

But only a mere suspicion. He couldn't afford to jump and take the wrong boy.

If only he could get more information, but the damn pathetic nurse was not really cooperative regarding information at all, persistently saying she didn't know and all. If he were the boss, he would get rid of her immediately. Suddenly he felt vibration in his front pocket and picked up his cell phone.

"Hello? Yeah? No. I made a progress, of course. I've got it." He paused as he listened to the other person, "are you kidding me? This is hard you know. That trash you called picture is hardly helpful." He sounded displeased. "There're four kids in my suspect list right now- oh. Camera? But the damn brats noticed me already." He grunted on the receiver. "Different approach. Easy for you to say. Yeah, yeah, alright. Tomorrow." He rolled his eyes and snapped his phone shut.

He had to return tomorrow. He needed to take the pictures and showed them to the woman who had seen the boy in person. It sounded simple. Hopefully the kids wouldn't hinder his job, and it would be the last time he had to show up at the school.

* * *

**Next Issue:** They found another lead from a medical record of a patient named Tezuka Kunimitsu. Fuuji Yuuta called Seigaku's tennis captain for the first time, because his older brother didn't show up like he promised.

**Thank you for reading! I hope you're no bored, it's still a long way to go. ^^**


	5. Chapter 5

**Sorry for the late update. I intend to post every five days, but I've got no time for editing. Busy time of the year.  
**

* * *

**Chapter 05**

Class would be over in 10 minutes. Sadaharu Inui kept on glancing at the clock above the black board. He concentrated on the ticking rather than the teacher's rambling. Although he was a genius in his own way, his attention span was considered worse than Eiji. It wasn't like he couldn't concentrate at all. He just found it very difficult to pay attention to something he got no interest in. It wasn't until a dreadfully long 10 minutes passed the bell rang throughout the school.

Lunch break.

Inui started collecting his neatly unopened books on the desk. He stacked his pencils on the case and put them into his school bag. He stood up and left the classroom.

As he walked down the corridor, the juniors sometimes smiled and nodded politely at him, and sometimes he would return the gesture. Inui was not a very sociable person, but he wasn't as uptight as the captain of the tennis team. Inui loved gathering data and writing on his notepad. He could walk and write at the same time, but he didn't do it for the sake of avoiding people. He did it because he was interested in it.

Interest. That was what kept him going.

There were three things that occupied his mind lately. The mystery behind Tezuka Kunimitsu's food poisoning and hospital admission, score predictions on the next friendly match between Seigaku, Hyoutei, and St. Rudolph, and lastly the suspicious man who recently appeared out of nowhere.

He halted his step suddenly when he noticed someone at the front gate. The said man was currently standing alone, using an entirely different style of clothing. But Inui recognized his features, his movements, and his significant gestures. Overall, he was sure this was the same man, despite the plain white T-shirt beneath a blue blazer that rolled up slightly, and light blue jeans. As casual as it might seemed, he was still wearing that suspiciously stupid cap and mask, pretending he was down with a cold and waiting for someone.

What he could never ignore was the bag he was holding. It was a very common bag, but Inui didn't see it yesterday. Inui had to squint his eyes to identify the thing inside. Apparently the man didn't zip the bag, and something was poking out slightly. It glinted in the sunlight. A lens. He brought a camera.

Interesting.

Inui took out his notebook and pen, writing every information he gathered these past few days, including the change of clothes, how many times he appeared on tennis court, and if he was speaking to anyone. Only datas, nothing to analyze at the moment. He thought about collecting them for now since it might be useful in the future.

One could never be too careful anyway.

* * *

She finally met the boss. But instead of feeling honored and thrilled, she was utterly terrified. The boss identity didn't really surprise her. She already guessed he must be one of the higher ups in the hospital. So when the owner of the hospital himself appeared in front of her, she didn't show any reaction.

If they let her meet him, does it mean she had switched to the 'knowing' team now? Or maybe he would try to dispose of her. She shuddered at the possibility.

She took a seat across a very large meeting table. She sat at the other end. Two men were standing behind him, unmoving like statues.

"Do you know why you're called here to meet me personally?"

"Yes."

She was not only scared, but also upset at the same time. They were relentless regarding this matter. She was tired of having to go through this again and again. They kept asking her about the boy. A very innocent and clueless boy in her opinion.

She didn't dare to lift her eyes and met the boss, but she didn't bow her head too much. She waited. It was a long pause. "You know. You're a very clever nurse. Brilliant. That is why I still trust you with the patient's care. But recently I've been receiving complaints from my security team." He stared at her. "You know why?" He asked. She was forced to lift her gaze and shook her head. His face was old and kind, but she could feel every threat in his tone.

The boss sighed, "you refused to cooperate. You've been refusing to help them identifying the boy." Before she could defend herself, he continued, "I know that you've been saying he's clueless. But really, we can never be too careful. I'm not going to hurt him. I just want to _know_." He stressed the word. She tried to calm her beating heart.

"I don't know his name."

"I suppose so. Let's start from how you two met, shall we?"

She took a deep breath. If the room didn't have any air conditioner in it, she would've been sweating bullets right now. She was extremely agitated inside. "I-I met him when I'm on my night shift." Oh God. A nervous start. She took a brief pause before starting again.

"I was on my back from changing the intravenous fluid and urine bag. He was holding a vase of tulips and his shirt was stained with juice. He asked me where the washroom was. I told him the direction and he directly went there." She paused and glanced at the boss. He didn't make any comment. It was her cue to continue. "After a while, I came back to the patient's ward to change the intravenous fluid. I was shocked when I saw him there." That part was obvious from the video showed. "He told me that he was lost. So I offered him to wait for me and then I showed him the way out. That's all." She ended and glanced downward to her fingers.

"Oh. I see." Was the only respond she received from the older male. "And where did you take him?" He asked again. She had just stated 'the way out' and he wasn't going to let it go.

"I took him back to his family's ward." She cursed her cowardliness. She could just lie. But he'd know. He said he wasn't going to hurt him. "Fourth floor, room forty two," she added, watching as the other's lips quirked into a smile.

"Thank you. You're a great help." He said with a very kind smile. She knew better than to feel relieved. She did feel a bit relief, but now guilt started gnawing inside her.

* * *

"Here, sir." His secretary gave him sheets of papers. It was a copy of a patient's medical record. He took the paper and scanned the data thoroughly.

_Individual Health Information_

_Confidential_

He skipped the upper part of the page and looked directly to the information.

_Personal Information _

_Name: Tezuka Kunimitsu_

_Age: 15_

_Birth date: 10 July 19xx_

_Address: xxxxxxxx_

_City: xxxxxx_

_State: xxxxxx_

_Occupation: student. __**Seishun Gakuen Middle School.**_

_Parents/Guardian (below 20 years old)_

_Mother: Tezuka Ayana_

_Address: xxxxxxxxx_

_Father: Tezuka Kuniharu_

_Address: xxxxxxxx_

_Guardian: -_

_Address: -_

_Health summary_

_Male, 15 years old / 179cm / 58Kg. _

_Admitted: October 12th, 20xx_

_Diagnosis on admission: gastroenteritis with moderate dehydration, cause unknown (suspect food poisoning, bowel infection, allergy, irritable bowel syndrome)_

_Doctor in charge: Doctor Takahashi Yuki_

_Discharged: October 15th, 20xx_

_Diagnosis on discharge: gastroenteritis with moderate dehydration (food poisoning). Patient condition stable._

_Therapy: xxxxxxxxx_

_Follow up: return for check up on October 17th 20xx_

_Doctor in charge: Doctor Saito Manami_

He skipped the rest of explanations. He looked at the copy of the student identity card. There was a picture at the top right corner of the last sheet. He lifted his finger, gesturing his secretary to come closer.

"Yes, sir?" He stood by his side, waiting for order.

"Send this picture to the person in the field."

"Understood." He bowed and left with the papers. He quickly turned to the computer, scanned the picture of a bespectacled boy, and emailed it to their companion who was currently posted at Seishun Gakuen.

* * *

"Yes?" he picked up his phone after he felt it vibrated in his front pocket. He couldn't catch a glimpse of any of his suspects today. He needed to take a picture of them and let the nurse confirm the real identity.

"What? Oh sure. I'll read it." He snapped his phone shut and waited patiently for an email. They said they found the patient that the boy visited last time. Apparently, it was his friend. It would help if he saw the picture.

He felt his phone vibrated again. An animated email icon popped up on the top screen. He opened it and downloaded the image.

After gaping for a while, he felt like laughing. He stared at the picture one last time and dialed the recent number. "Hey, thanks for the picture. Helped me a lot. There's this boy I've been suspecting and he matched with the shitty video screen-caps. The boy we're looking for hangs around the one you emailed me just now all the time. They play tennis." A pause. He gritted his teeth, "Of course! I'm pretty sure of it. I wouldn't call you otherwise. You still need me to take his picture or what?"

The person on the other line didn't sound convinced. "Hey, I'm ninety nine percent sure it's him. Except he has a twin somewhere, I don't know." He listened carefully. "Fine. Whatever. See you later." He ended their conversation.

"You're welcome." He muttered sarcastically to phone before flipping it shut. He started to walk away. At least they knew who the boy was.

* * *

The library was always very quiet and spacious. There were not many students visiting unless they had home works to be done. Tezuka was currently working on classic literature project. The teacher had to give them work now of all time. He felt time and space were closing in on him right now.

"May I sit here?" A familiar voice asked for his permission. He looked up and saw his friend.

"Aa." He replied. Fuji smiled and sat in front of him. He put a very large and thick book on the table.

"It's English." He told Tezuka. Fuji started to flip through the pages and took notes. The captain chose not to ask anymore and turned his attention back to his project.

Ten minutes later, he was already finished. Most students would take more than 2 days. But it was an easy task for Tezuka, as long as he was focusing on the work. He looked at Fuji who had also finished writing almost a page of essay. He would be done anytime soon unless he was required to write more than that. Tezuka watched the other boy put down his pen.

"I'm done." Fuji said and stretched his arm. "This is for my last class." He informed. Somehow Tezuka wasn't surprised. Fuji was always the last minute type of person. He knew that because they shared the same class once. He rarely brought his work home. If he didn't do it right after the work was given, he would do it a minute before it was collected.

"Ne, are you done?" Fuji asked. Tezuka nodded. But neither of them started packing up their books and writing tools. They stayed where they were in silence, but not an uncomfortable one.

"Fuji," Tezuka started, "do you know anything about the man who has been watching the courts these past few days?" he asked.

"Eh?" Fuji looked surprised. He didn't know about it. "I've never seen him." He admitted. It was understandable since the said man was always gone when Fuji arrived, and Tezuka was sure someone as perceptive as Fuji couldn't have missed him.

"What was he like?" Fuji suddenly asked again, his face unreadable.

"He always had his face covered with a protective mask. He wore dark colored jacket yesterday. Oishi said he showed up at morning practice. He came back at the afternoon." Tezuka told him.

"Mask?" Fuji repeated. He heard that just fine before, but he muttered the word unconsciously as he recalled the event at the hospital. Two male nurses were chasing him, or at least he thought they were chasing him before. They were wearing standard protective mask, covering half of their faces. Fuji frowned.

_It can't be._

"Fuji?" Tezuka called. It startled him a bit.

"Ah, sorry. I suddenly remembered something." _Unpleasant. _He didn't say it out loud. Tezuka looked at him questioningly.

"Do you have any idea who he was?" The captain asked again. Why did he have to be so perceptive?

Fuji shook his head, "no idea." He said. "He could be there to scout players or he might be a reporter." Fuji added.

"Inui thought the same thing. But when I saw him yesterday, I approached him." Fuji blanched at that information. Seriously, only Tezuka Kunimitsu would do that after he saw anyone suspicious. He faced them head on.

"What happened then?" Fuji asked him again.

"He ran away."

"Wow." That was indeed very suspicious. Only people at fault run away.

Fuji leant back into his chair. They were back into silence after that. Tezuka noticed Fuji ran his hand through his hair unconsciously and touched his chin with his knuckles. The fingers stayed there as he was thinking. He only did that when he was nervous. Tezuka knew him well.

Something was bothering his friend and he knew Fuji didn't feel comfortable talking about it. He could be wrong. Fuji was known for his secrecy and incomprehensible ways of thinking. But Tezuka knew Fuji barely hid anything from anyone. He'd answer immediately when he was asked.

So it was probably nothing. He might be thinking too far.

But still.

"You can tell me if anything bothers you." He suddenly said. Fuji looked surprised and he didn't bother hiding it. He chuckled.

"Tezuka, what makes you think there's something bothering me?" He asked with an amused smile.

"I said, _if_." He replied matter-of-factly. Fuji chuckled again. To some people the reply might sound a bit rude. But Fuji knew Tezuka really cared.

"Thank you, Tezuka. I really appreciate it." Fuji said sincerely. He wasn't really sure about what was happening. But he refused to sweat himself or worse, his best friend, over an uncertain matter.

* * *

"Alright, you may go home now." Ryuuzaki announced to everyone on the court. After school practice was over. Most club members were already packed and ready to left. The first years stayed a bit longer and started collecting balls, except for Echizen Ryoma who was conversing with the other regulars at the moment.

Fuji went to his locker and checked his phone. 2 messages and 3 missed calls.

_Onee-san:_

_Syuusuke, where r u?_

_(__Received__ 16:12)_

_Yuuta ^^:_

_Aniki... Nee-san wouldn't stop asking me where u r. How should I know? - -"_

_(__Received__ 16:20)_

Fuji chuckled at the annoyed emoticon. He quickly typed his reply.

_Just finished afternoon practice. Heading home right now. Wait for me~_

_(__Message Sent: 16:28__)_

"Fujiko! Let's go to the bookstore together! I'm going with Oishi and Ochibi!" Eiji said as he glomped his best friend from behind.

"I need to go home soon, Eiji. Maybe next time." He refused and earned a pout from Eiji, but the red haired teen quickly smiled after that.

"It's okay. See you later, then!" He said and quickly left to chase after Ryoma and Oishi.

Fuji watched his friends retreating figures. He needed to go home soon. He always walked back home with Tezuka these past few days. But today Tezuka might stay a bit longer, he had something to talk about with their coach. Speaking of which, Tezuka approached him.

"Fuji, are you going back now?" he asked. Fuji nodded,

"Yes. Nee-san and Yuuta are expecting me home soon. She's making curry for dinner." He told the captain.

"I'm sorry I can't go back with you. Are you alright going home by yourself?" Tezuka asked. They never made any promises to go home together. But the captain felt the need to say it.

"It's fine, Tezuka." He replied. Fuji realized he might have made his friend worried with his past actions.

"Be careful Fuji. Don't let your guard down." Tezuka's sentence sounded like a warning. But Tezuka always said that on every occasion, so Fuji didn't really look into it.

"I will. See you tomorrow, Tezuka." He said and left after he heard Tezuka's reply.

The truth was he felt uncomfortable about going home alone, especially after he heard about the suspicious man earlier. But today he didn't spot anyone strange throughout the practice. He needed to clear his head and stopped jumping into conclusion over trivial matters. This was not some kind of movie. They were coincidences.

After two minutes walking down the road, Fuji looked at his mobile phone.

16:36

"Oh no." He muttered under his breath. He might still catch the bus if he runs now. He held his bag tighter and started to go for it. It was not far from here. He was running for a good 5 minutes before halting his steps immediately. A man was waiting by the bus stop.

A man with a mask.

Fuji's heart skipped a beat. He was silently hoping, but this was too much for a coincidence. He turned around quickly and saw another man. He was wearing a scarf to cover his face instead of a mask like the other. His request was clear despite the barrier in front of his mouth.

"We need you to come with us quietly, please."

The bus was probably two minutes away, and they were stepping closer by the second. Fuji knew he had no choice.

* * *

Tezuka locked the door to the club room and checked the door one last time. Inui was quietly waiting behind him. Talking about the upcoming match took a lot of time. He already decided to ask Inui instead of Oishi regarding the training menu. The vice-captain had been busy since he was also a representative for his class in the upcoming festival. Furthermore, he had to watch morning practices in Tezuka's stead since the captain was busy supervising student council duties. Ryuuzaki-sensei already approved of this. And so they spent after practice to discuss the matter.

He didn't realize it was 05:30 in the afternoon already until he looked at the clock on the club room wall.

"Tezuka, do you noticed that the man from before was absent today?" the bespectacled man asked as they walked.

"Aa." He affirmed. He indeed didn't see anyone today.

"That's weird. I saw him again at the front gate and he went missing. You think he already found what he was looking for?" Inui asked again.

"Probably," he replied. Or maybe Tezuka scared him off yesterday. But it was unlikely. Maybe Inui was right.

"Tezuka, I think it's your mobile phone." Inui told him. Tezuka grabbed his bag and felt something vibrating. From the duration, it must be a phone call. Tezuka unzipped his bag and took the phone immediately. He saw the caller's id.

_Fuji Yuuta_

That was weird. Fuji Yuuta was Fuji Syuusuke's younger brother. He rarely called. Tezuka had almost every Fuji family members' number in his contacts and so was Fuji. It was because they had been friends for a long time.

"Hello? Tezuka speaking." He said. Inui gaped at the formality. He called his personal number, of course it would be him.

"_Tezuka-san?"_ a voice on the other line could be heard faintly.

"Yes, Fuji-san, can I help you?"

"_Ano.. do you know where aniki was?"_ the younger asked. Tezuka was feeling slightly uneasy now, though he didn't show it in his voice.

"He went home about an hour ago. Have you tried calling his mobile phone?" Of course he had, he wouldn't be calling him otherwise. But Tezuka still had to ask.

"_I have, but he's not answering. He texted me an hour ago saying he was going straight home. But he's still not here."_

"I'll try looking for him, Fuji-san. I'll inform you later."

"_Thank you very much, Tezuka-san. Sorry for bothering you."_ They exchanged polite parting words before ending the conversation.

"Tezuka, what is it?" Inui had a faint clue for what was happening from the bits of one sided conversation he heard earlier.

"Inui, I need to go first." Tezuka put his mobile phone back into his bag and turned away without waiting for a reply.

Tezuka was worried. Though his worry seemed groundless, he didn't want to take the risk. Fuji's earlier attitude, his previous encounter with the suspicious man, and the conversation with Inui earlier only made his worry increase. Tezuka was a very optimistic person, yet he thought for the worst this time. Inui's question still rang in his mind.

"_You think he already found what he was looking for?"_

* * *

**Next chapter: Fuji finally remembered about the boys in the picture. They need more body parts, more killing ensued.**

**Thank you for reading and staying with me so far. Please tell me if there's any mistake. I hope you like it.**


	6. Chapter 6

**Chapter 06**

Fuji fell into complete silence as his feet dragged him to the park. The community lot was quiet, though there were many people walking around. There were mothers watching their children playing, and there were some pedestrians passing by now and then. It was not the safest place possible, but it was his best choice.

They asked him to follow them quietly before. He consented and walked with them. One of them, if he wasn't misheard, told him not to be afraid. They even had him choose the best place for a conversation around him. He had no choice but to believe what he said.

He led them carefully to the local park. There was a police station not very far, only two blocks away, but he didn't want to push his luck.

"May I ask what your name is?" The man with the scarf asked. He was the one who did most of the conversation. The other one was silently watching. His gaze was scrutinizing.

Huh? They didn't know his name? So why on earth did they look for him?

"Fuji Syuusuke." He answered honestly. He could have lied, there were more than a hundred names of people living in this prefecture to choose from. But he decided to play honest, since it might get them off his back faster. He was innocent, or at least he didn't think he had done anything wrong, so he decided to play the acquitted role perfectly.

"Are you a student in Seishun Gakuen?" he asked again. Fuji nodded.

"Yes, I'm in the middle school, third year." He replied matter-of-factly.

"And you play tennis also?"

"Yes, since I was in grade school. I like tennis very much." He told them with a small smile. They seemed relaxed a bit at his carefree facade. Fuji was silently hoping they couldn't possibly hear his wild heart-beat.

The man with the scarf still refused to remove the fabric covering his face, and instead he lifted it more until it nearly in line with his eyes. "I want to ask you something important. We might have not been introduced properly, but it was best if we stay as strangers after this conversation. Got it kid? We're no dangerous people, alright?" They tried to treat him like a child, Fuji noted the approach. What was he? Three? And did they seriously trying to befriend someone while covering half of their faces like criminals? But Fuji gave no comment. He just nodded again.

Despite being a 15 years old teenager, he was short, or at least not as tall as his peers. This harmless small and lithe build gave him advantages at this kind of situation, where he needed to play timid and gullible. There was definitely a reason why they wanted to talk to him. He knew, but didn't want to cause any unnecessary attention.

Fuji was a genius. But they didn't need to know that fact.

"On 13th October, you were visiting your friend or family in the hospital, correct?" Fuji felt like he was being interrogated, yet he still listened attentively. The man took out a picture of 8 smiling nurses from his pocket. Fuji recognized one of them.

"Can you see the woman on the far left?" he asked as he showed it with one hand. The other hand was still holding the scarf in its place.

"Ah yes, I've seen her twice. She helped me once when I got lost. I accidentally spilled juice on my shirt and I was supposed to go out with my sister that night. She showed me the way to the washroom." Fuji told them.

"Did you enter any ward at that time?" he asked.

"Yes, I checked few rooms, trying to find someone. I don't really remember." He lied about the last one. How could he forget the room where he met that nurse? He kept on imagining the room and the patient inside, trying to find out what was wrong with the corpse-like boy being there.

"Oh, and then?" the man asked again, insisted on details.

"And when I got back, I got lost again. She helped me back into my friend's ward." He said.

"Tezuka Kunimitsu?"

Fuji was shocked to hear his friend's name. "Ah yes, that's him. He's our tennis team captain." He tried to sound a bit enthusiast in giving the information, trying to ignore the fact they knew about Tezuka for now.

There was a brief pause before they continue their question. "You said you've met her twice. When was the second time?" He asked. Fuji recalled the last time he went to the hospital. He was confronted by the nurse and chased by two strange men. Now he was really sure he was being chased back then.

"Oh, that was a couple of days ago. I also went there to meet up with my friend, Tezuka. I was thanking her back then. She has been very kind to me." He explained and smiled a little bit. Would they believe him?

"Yes, she's very kind." The man repeated. It looked like they really believed in him. It wasn't like he lied in the first place. But he didn't want to alarm the man. He didn't even know whether they were good guys or bad guys.

Fuji kept his innocent smiling face on, ignoring the stern gazes from both men, assessing him from head to toes.

"That's all that we want to ask." He suddenly said. "It would be better if you forget this conversation," he continued. Fuji only stared at both of them until the man with the scarf reached out for his head and tousled his hair. "Study hard, kid." He said. It was supposedly an affectionate gesture, but Fuji only felt dread. He really wanted to run away. Their presences were unnerving. Even if he refused to show it, he was scared.

"Goodbye." They finally turned away and left.

Fuji felt relief suddenly washed over him. His legs were almost given out. He had been standing for a while through the entire conversation. Yet this situation made him forget his tiredness. He decided against resting on the park.

Even though the conversation went well, he still had this feeling of distraught. He knew he was safe for a while, but those people seemed capable of doing something dangerous. They knew about Tezuka. They could easily track down him and his family. Fuji wanted to run away.

No, he needed to run away. So he ran.

If Fuji wasn't sure before about that encounter in the hospital, he was now. Millions of questions and suspicions were running in his mind now. There must be something very wrong about that boy. They stalked him for it. But why?

_Why?_

He rushed out of the park and stormed passed the pedestrians, nearly it some of them. He just wanted to run to a crowded place, any place that could ease his fear. He crossed the road sometimes and paid no attention to his surroundings. Until a car suddenly appeared from his side, and a screeching sound was heard, probably from the sudden stop.

Fuji slumped to the ground. He was almost hit.

It was an expensive looking car, with a body length longer than standard. The passenger door opened automatically and someone stepped out from it. The person stared at him for a while in confusion. Fuji knew him, of course.

"Fuji Syuusuke."

"Atobe... Keigo."

* * *

The sun has set. It was already 06:20 PM. Atobe Keigo was sitting on his back seat, occasionally stealing glances at Fuji. The honey haired boy looked so deep in his thought. His face was incomprehensible. He wore a blank expression, instead of smiling like usual.

Atobe knew Fuji Syuusuke had a thousand types of smile, and he realized them by experiences. He already saw his happy smile, relieved smile, vengeful smile, and menacing smile. He personally experienced the last two.

But right now he wore none. If Atobe could make out an emotion from his facial expression, it was slight distress and tiredness.

Atobe decided not to talk to Fuji right now. He might be a talkative person, but Fuji's mood seemed to drain him from his passion to talk. The Hyoutei captain swore he felt the other boy trembled slightly the first time he helped him into his car.

He was glad there was no injury on Fuji, even though it wasn't actually his fault that the Seigaku tensai was being suicidal earlier. Fuji practically dashed into the traffic. He was lucky Atobe took his time going home.

After a 5 minutes of uncomfortable silence, at least for Atobe, he noticed Fuji's bag vibrated. "Hey, it's your mobile phone." He said. There was no response, and the phone still vibrated. "Fuji Syuusuke!" He tried once again. That roused Fuji from his thoughts.

"Yes. I'm sorry. 'Fuji' is fine." He replied. Atobe raised his eyebrow.

"Okay. _Fuji_, it's your cellphone." He repeated. The tensai blinked.

"Oh, right. Thank you." He said and pulled out his mobile from the front pocket of his school bag. He let out an inaudible gasp as he saw the number.

_27 missed calls_

He entered several keys and checked the entries.

_5 missed calls__ from__ Nee-san_

_8 missed calls__ from__ Yuuta^^_

_14 missed calls__ from__ Tezuka Kunimitsu_

Fuji gaped at the name and the number of calls from the last person. He tried to ransack his brain, why would Tezuka called him fourteen times? Before his question was answered, the phone vibrated again in his hand. He saw the caller's id clearly.

_Tezuka Kunimitsu_

Fuji pressed the green button and held the device close to his ear, waiting for a voice. _"Fuji!"_ A voice exclaimed from the other side even before he managed to say 'hello'. The caller's tone was heavy with worry, yet Fuji sensed a bit relief at how the person catching their breath.

"Tezuka..." he muttered slowly into the speaker. Tezuka was worried about him. The voice was so different than his usual composed one. On any other circumstances, Fuji would like to see his friend's expression. But now, he couldn't even think about what to say.

"_Where are you?" _Tezuka asked. Fuji could hear traffic noises from the background. Were Tezuka looking for him?

"I-I'm on my way home." He replied, but his voice didn't come out as he intended.

"_Are you alright?" _Of course his friend would ask. He took a deep breath while covering the speaker with his hand.

"Yes, I'm fine." He answered.

"_Your sister and brother have been trying to reach you. __Y__our younger brother called me earlier. They were extremely worried."_

"Yuuta called you?" He was a bit surprised. He peeked at the digital clock and suddenly realized the time. He had been gone that long, so of course Yuuta would have called his friend.

"_Yes. Are you really alright?" _Tezuka asked again, voice laced with genuine concern. Fuji almost smiled at this.

"I am. I'm coming home now. Thank you for asking, and... Sorry to make you worried." He really didn't want to be a burden to his friend.

"_Aa. It's fine."_ Tezuka's response was typical. Fuji felt a lot relieved now after hearing his captain's voice. After exchanging few more sentences and goodbyes, Tezuka ended the call. Fuji watched until the disconnected phone symbol went off and put his phone back into his bag.

"I'm sorry. It was Tezuka." He apologized. He was being impolite earlier for picking up a call without excusing himself. He was in Atobe's car after all.

"Don't really mind. Glad you're alright." He replied.

Fuji finally smiled. A polite albeit forced smile.

At least Fuji didn't send a menacing glare at him as he always did in the past. Atobe knew Fuji cared about his teammates a great deal, especially Tezuka Kunimitsu. Though Atobe refused to acknowledge that injury was his fault, he was the one who initiated the endurance battle. He had his share of guilt.

It was new for Atobe. This whole scene with Fuji Syuusuke today was new to him. He never thought there would be a day he would see the shorter man so agitated and nervous. They continued the drive in silence. Fuji didn't so much as uttering a single word and looked to the passing scenery instead.

Atobe wondered if Fuji Syuusuke still disliked him.

* * *

"Where on earth have you been Syuusuke?!"

"Why couldn't you pick up the phone, stupid aniki!"

When Fuji arrived at home, it was already past seven. They were worried sick. The moment he opened the door, they didn't even wait for his greeting. They quickly rained him with questions which he didn't answer that much except 'something came up' and that he was really tired. Seeing the expression on his face back then, they relented and quickly started dinner.

20:30

"Thank you for the food." Fuji Yuuta put down his spoon after eating his third serving. He was really hungry and food at dormitory wasn't that good. He insisted that this had nothing to do with Yumiko's excellent cooking.

"Oh, I'm so glad you like it." Yumiko grinned victoriously and took the plates in front of Yuuta and started walking to the sink. She didn't start the water right away and watched her other brother instead. Yuuta noticed Yumiko's gaze and looked at the same direction.

Fuji Syuusuke was barely finished half of his first serving of curry. Just this morning he was ecstatic about eating the food together with his siblings. Yumiko couldn't help but worried. She knew by instinct that it wasn't about her cooking at all. Something was bothering his younger brother.

"Aniki, aren't you going to eat the rest?" Yuuta asked. Fuji shook his head and smiled faintly,

"No, I'm full. Sorry." Fuji gently pushed the plate forward as if he could throw up just from looking at it.

"Syuusuke, are you sick?" Yumiko asked as she approached him and took the plate. A waste of food.

"No, I'm not." He answered. He wasn't pale, and he didn't show any unusual symptoms either. He was not sick, but he certainly didn't look too well.

"I'm sorry for shouting at you earlier." Yuuta apologized, blushing slightly. He refused to admit he was worried. But he honestly preferred the sneaky, cunning, and mischievous Fuji. He was kind of docile right now. No, 'lack of spirit' would be a better word.

"No, it's alright, Yuuta." Fuji offered his younger brother a smile and stood up, "I'm going upstairs." He said and turned away.

Yumiko and Yuuta exchanged looks. Both siblings sighed and resumed tidying the dining room.

* * *

**08:15 PM**

The room was dimly lit. There were lamps of course, two bright lamps in case they need lots of illumination ready. There was this moment when that person had a seizure attack that required immediate anti-convulsion injection. Or maybe at one occasion, slime would build up and clogged the tube in his throat, and they had to remove it or he would die from lack of oxygen. You would never know what could happen in a room, where someone was hanging between life and death. Anything could happen.

He had undergone 3 organ transplantations, and 2 organ removals. The operation went well, as far as the term 'successful surgery' goes, seeing he was still alive right now. But maybe 'alive' was not the best word.

"Tohru..." A man wept beside the bed. His voice was faint, drowned by the beeping sound of the machines. He touched the patient's sickening pale hand, gently traced the bruising skin caused by the veins that collapse.

He was on life support, with tubes sticking out everywhere. They've tried the small ones at the back of his hands, and bigger ones at his arms and legs. Now they had to put it right through his chest, using one of the largest veins on the body. The patient needed to live.

No. _He_ needed the patient to live.

"Son, I'm so sorry." He lifted the hand and kissed the bony fingers.

The door to the ward opened. He looked up to see a young looking man with a white coat. "Sir, the lab result is here." He informed the older man and carefully handed the papers.

He was a new recruit on the 'team'. Despite his young appearance, he was still 28 yet he already became a great doctor, and an internist with a degree in endocrinology. Most people who knew him would agree that he would lead a very bright future ahead of him. But his relatively young age, stupid ambition, and his love for challenge, drove him to make this choice. He decided to take on this job when they offered him last month. He deeply regretted it.

Ever since then, he felt like he was walking on a mine field every single day.

"Read it." The older man ordered, not bothering to lift his gaze from his son's face. He was a doctor himself, but he didn't feel like reading it right now.

"A-ah, alright." The young man stuttered and started reading with difficulty. The room was too dark to read. "From the regular blood test, the hemoglobin level is seven point five, the leukocyte count is three thousand, the erithrocy-"

"I didn't ask you to read the whole damn thing. What is the result?" His voice was low and demanding. The doctor's hands were shaking a little. He quickly flipped the page. Most of the results were off the normal range, but at least he had the idea of what the older man wanted.

"His blood urea level is extremely high." He stated.

Urea was one of the body's waste products. It was excreted into the urine. Sometimes when the body failed to do so, the level would get extremely high and intoxicate the body. The symptoms were varied from case to case, but most of them got nausea, vomiting, headache, disorientation, shortness of breath, or worse, brain damage.

Since the boy was in comatose state, he couldn't possibly tell them about the symptom he was having. They could only monitor his heartbeat, whether it was too fast or slowing too much. There was no point in watching his breath since he wasn't breathing on his own. Sometimes they did regular laboratory tests on his urine and blood. But these past two days, he was showing another disturbance.

"So that's why he has been having seizures..." the man muttered, thumb still gently rubbing his son's hand. "What else did you find?"

And what? What else he should read? All the result was really abnormal. That kid was dying—if not dead already. The doctor shivered.

"His haemoglobin level was low."

"You've mentioned that."

Damn he didn't know what the older man wants.

"Be useful." His tone was full of warnings. He sent a displease look toward the other man, who was standing nervously at the other side of the bed.

"I-I'm sorry. From the test results, I assume his kidney is failing." He stated. It was no surprise if anyone could see the numerous drugs injected into his body. One by one the boy's internal organs would give out considerably.

If his contractor didn't pleased enough with his answer, he didn't show it. "Prepare erythropoietin shots and blood for transfusion." He ordered. Erythropoietin was a hormone created by the kidney. It promoted blood cell production in the body. Since the boy's kidney was failing, he also fell into anemic state.

More blood. Easy.

"Understood." He said quickly. He could do that. They had stocks of many types of blood, specially stored for him. All that left was picking up the shots. That was what he thought.

"And, prepare to find a kidney donor." The boss added. The doctor couldn't believe his ear. His breath hitched in his throat. "He needs a new transplant."

So soon? Did he think it was that easy?

The doctor fell silent for a while. This whole thing had been gnawing at his conscience, ever since he realized where and how they acquired those fresh parts. Even if they tried to find a legal way, and they did found a match, not anyone would give their organs just like that. So they resorted to this.

"Well?"

He knew he was in no position to argue. It was not a humanitarian issue again. He regained his composure and answered, "understood, sir. I'll start the search right away."

No. He wouldn't make the same mistake his predecessor did.

"Leave then, for now." The older man dismissed him. He bowed his head and turned away. The man watched until his subordinate disappeared behind the door. He knew new people wouldn't be as efficient as the original. But the previous trusted doctor started blabbering about consciences and some trashy issues to him. He sensed the threat. So he got rid of him. Neatly.

He turned his attention back to his beloved son. "Please be patient now, my boy." He got up from his chair and straightened his cloth. He looked at a frame on the table by the window. It was a photo of two cheerful boys, and it was the only picture of his son that he had. His eyes were wary and sad, yet he didn't shed a single tear.

He took the frame and held it close. He promised to himself he'd save his tears for when his son wake up. Then he would cry in happiness.

* * *

_He couldn't believe he got lost again, and every time he did, he always ended up __at__ the same place. He always ended up in the cold ward. There was a boy sleeping on the bed. Half of his body was covered by thin white blanket, while the other half were connected to machines everywhere possible._

_His hair was unusual for __Japanese__. It was blond and curly. If he stood outside on broad daylight, the strands might as well __shine like __the sun. His skin was pale, not only because he was sick, but it was fair by nature. His eyes were closed. And his mouth... It was hard to describe when large tube was coming out from it._

_There were so many details he wanted to see from the boy laying in front of him. But he always found himself stirred his gaze to the window. And there it was. The photo frame._

_Again._

_There were two boys in the picture. It was the boy. Just as he imagined, his hair was shining under the sunlight. His smile was wide, innocent, and cheerful. Despite the dark color of his eyes, __the only indication of his possible Japanese heritage, __they were radiating happiness. Just by looking at him in this picture can make anyone smile._

_And there was the other boy. They looked the same age. One could easily understand that they were good friends. He was wearing a white cap. His face was almost hidden by the shadow, but the curves of his nose and chin were clear. His lips were closed, but not too tightly. He didn't sparkle like the other one, but he looked contented. He was far from uncomfortable, even though the blond boy was clinging onto his arm. He was holding a tennis ball. His pose was calm yet challenging at the same time. He made this familiar silhouette. _

_Who was he?_

_Who?_

Fuji woke up instantly. He was clutching his chest with one hand, and holding his head with the other. It was that dream again. It was so vague, yet dream was always forgotten when one wakes up. Fuji shook his head frantically.

He must not forget. It was more than a dream to him, it was a memory.

He groaned as he desperately trying to remember the vivid image of the last scene in his dream. That photo frame. The familiar boy. Who was it? He was desperate. He felt the answer was there, he just couldn't bring himself to say it. He was so close to remember it. Who did the boy remind him of?

Then the answer rolled from his tongue suddenly, "Echizen."

* * *

**Next Issue:** The date of the friendly match was nearing. Atobe decided to pay Seigaku a visit, much to everyone's dismay. When it turned out that his father had a connection to the hospital, Fuji decided to use the chance. Meanwhile, the doctors found a list of possible donor, who would get killed next?

**A/N: About the medical stuffs there, sorry if they were disturbing or a bit far from reality. This is just a fiction. I'll do my best to improve my writing. **

**Thank you for reading and reviewing! :)**


	7. Chapter 7

**Thank you for the reviews, and thank you for reading. Glad you're still with me. =)**

**Chapter 07**

It had been three days after the time when Fuji was missing and then found through phone calls. The captain didn't jump in and interrogate his friend immediately the day after. He respectfully waited until the shorter boy would talk to him first.

And Fuji didn't.

But Tezuka would never force him, so he felt content just from watching his best friend from afar. Much to his relief, it only took another 24 hours for the honey haired boy to return to his usual smiling, teasing, and mischievous self.

"Fuji," Tezuka called his friend who was currently fiddling with his racquet. Fuji looked up at him,

"Yes?" he replied with a smile. Tezuka sat beside him on the bench,

"How did it go with St. Rudolph?" he asked. Fuji was supposed to visit St. Rudolph yesterday, and going to Hyoutei today.

"Oh, it's no trouble at all. Yuuta actually went with me there himself. And he never left me even for a second." He told his captain happily. He pondered for a moment, "- but that might have something to do with his worry for his captain. Mituli or something."

'_Mizuki.' _Tezuka added in his mind.

At least Fuji didn't do anything bad to St. Rudolph's captain. Every single person who had watched the match between Fuji Syuusuke and Mizuki Hajime during Tokyo Prefectural's match would know the relationship between the two. Fuji purposely made it look like he was losing five games in a row and then turned the table around, taking back all the seven games straight without letting the captain of St. Rudolph scored a single point, for the sake of humiliating Mizuki Hajime only. He did all of this because his little brother was in danger of destroying his arm over a silly technique, taught by the St. Rudolph captain himself.

And Fuji being Fuji, showed his hostility openly. They were never on a good terms ever since.

"Tezuka... I didn't do anything to him, you know-" the shorter boy grinned a bit, "-at least not too much." He added.

"Fuji." Tezuka warned softly, a halfhearted scold. Fuji only chukcled at that. "And what about Hyoutei?" Tezuka asked again.

"Atobe said he will come today, so there's no need for us to go there," he informed. Tezuka looked surprised. "He told me himself. No need to worry, Tezuka." Fuji added again, recalling the suggestion Atobe offered three days ago after he took Fuji home. Tezuka was more suprised to this fact.

"Any particular reason for the sudden change?" he asked. Fuji shrugged,

"Peace offering...maybe." Fuji said and offered him a grin. Tezuka sighed and hoped nothing bad would happen.

* * *

Oishi was standing at the court with Eiji, Momo, Kaidou, and Inui, while Tezuka and Fuji was still talking on the nearby bench. They were waiting for the practice to start. 5 minutes before practice and they hadn't seen their coach.

"Ne, where is Ryuuzaki-sensei?" Eiji asked as he actively looking around. Their coach was nowhere in sight.

"Ah yes, I don't see her anywhere." Momo added.

"She's not in the clubroom also. I was there a minute ago." Kawamura said as he walked toward them.

"Tezuka, Fuji, have you seen Ryuuzaki-sensei?" Oishi raised his voice, calling both their friends. Fuji and Tezuka stared at each other and turned to the vice-captain.

"I don't." Fuji answered and turned to Tezuka. "Have you seen her?" The captain shook his head.

"I haven't seen her today." He replied and suddenly stood up. "We'll stick with our schedule and start practice in three minutes." He stated and received a few groans. The protests died down immediately when he sent them a stern look.

Ryoma chose that moment to arrive. He didn't late for practice today. "Nya, Ochibi!" Eiji said as he practically bounced away from the group, welcoming the junior. "Have you seen Ryuuzaki-sensei?" he asked.

"No, but I know where she is." Ryoma answered flatly. They stared at him. "Sakuno told me earlier that she's going to go with her friend to the hospital. She collapsed while practicing tennis earlier. And the school nurse was saying something about pneumonia. She said she was going to ask Ryuuzaki-sensei for help." He told them.

"From the girl tennis team?" Inui asked. Ryoma nodded,

"Yes, I think I've seen her practicing a few times."

"Oh.. What are you doing around the girl's tennis team ne, Echizen?" Momo cooed and snickered. Ryoma shot him a glare and childishly turned away.

"Ii-data."

"Hehehe. Ochibi is shy." Eiji said as he watched his junior started warming up, ignoring their teasings.

"Echizen – Oh, I mean, Ryoma-_kun_!" Momo called him by his first name, just like Sakuno always did. Ryoma turned his head at Momoshiro, pointing his racquet challengingly. Momoshiro visibly gulped and backed away. The others were laughing while watching those two best friends, except for Fuji and Tezuka.

The captain didn't laugh because he just didn't. That kind of open emotional expression was not in his nature. But Fuji on the other hand was silent for an entirely different reason. He did smile a little though.

Three days ago he managed to recall a bit of disturbing memory, he hadn't had a chance to ask Echizen about it. Fuji contemplated to himself whether he should ask or not. These past three days were anything but peaceful for him, but he didn't see there was a need to disturb his friend over it. As much as he wanted to understand the recent events, maybe he should just forget.

Yes, he should.

"Everyone, start with 10 laps around the court!" Tezuka's stern voice resounded. Fuji dismissed his thoughts and joined everyone else.

* * *

Thanks to the training menu Inui and Ryuuzaki-sensei had prepared beforehand, they could start practicing without waiting for her. A trial match was now commenced between Echizen and unfortunately, Momoshiro. The original purpose of making them train together was to train Momo's endurance and confidence. But fighting Seigaku's pillar now, right after he had been teased relentlessly by his teammates just a half hour ago, made the plan backfired. The second year tennis player was all but giving up.

The rest of the team now stopped to watch how Ryoma took revenge on the older boy. Ryoma had attacked him ruthlessly right from the beginning. Momo hadn't managed to score a single point.

"Game Echizen! 4 – 0!" Oishi shouted. Momoshiro slumped to the court after that.

"Echizen... Forgive me." Momo apologized in defeat. Ryoma only shrugged and smirked.

"Fshuuu... Pathetic peach." Kaidou commented as he warmed himself up for the next turn. Momo glared viciously at him.

"Shut up!" He barked at his rival. Kaidou grinned and ignored his tantrums.

Oishii stepped in and dragged his junior out of the court. "Singles match. Kaidou and Inui, please enter the court." The vice-captain ordered. Kaidou snickered as he and Inui stepped into the court.

"No special technique allowed. Inui, you may make the best use of your data. Kaidou, rely more on your strategy and strength." Tezuka told both his team member. After receiving affirmative gaze from both players, Tezuka nodded at Oishi. The vice-captain raised his voice,

"Alright! The best of one set match. Inui service play!" and the game started smoothly.

The ball started volleying back and forth for a good two minutes. Inui as always had known where the next ball would land and where he should hit next. But Kaidou unexpectedly able to return every single ball back at him.

Fuji was watching intently at the match, sometimes making comment. "Neither of them makes any progress. Kaidou has been using a lot of his strength to keep up and return the ball. Inui looks like he's enjoying himself." He chuckled a little. Tezuka couldn't be more agree. Maybe he should just relocate them in doubles.

The honey haired teenager smiled at Tezuka's expression. "Well, it'll be alright, because Kaidou is a very high spirited player. He can keep up. He's a good match for Inui." Fuji said. Tezuka wanted to say something, but stopped when he saw someone behind Fuji.

"Ryuuzaki-sensei." The tennis coach walked casually toward them. Eiji, who was standing beside Oishi all this time, also saw her.

"Sensei!" He exclaimed. His voice caught Kaidou's attention.

"Idiot! Pay attention!" Inui shouted at his opponent. But it was too late. The ball hit Kaidou right on his left cheek. He collapsed to the side. Oishi frantically rushed into the court.

"Kaidou! Are you alright?" the mother hen fussed over him.

"Idiot." Inui muttered as he knelt in front of his junior. Kaidou winced as Inui touched his cheek.

Ryuuzaki sighed and approached the commotion. "Stand up. Let's put some ice on that." She said and waited until Kaidou got up. Inui followed Ryuuzaki and Kaidou to the clubroom.

Oishi was worried. He looked at Tezuka, who was gesturing him to continue the training. The captain walked to follow their coach but immediately stopped by the tensai.

"It's alright Tezuka, it's your match right now. I'll go and check on them," Fuji said and he sprinted toward the building before Tezuka could reply. The captain was worried about his teammate also, but he was glad the practice can continue right now. He turned to the court and spotted Kawamura, who was standing on the other side of the net.

"Players, step into the court." Oishi announced. Kawamura visibly shuddered, bracing himself. Tezuka could hear Ryoma snorted on the sideline as he tossed a racquet to Kawamura.

* * *

"Here, sensei." Fuji handed the teacher an ice pack.

"Thank you. I was about to ask Inui to bring one." Ryuuzaki said as she pressed the pack to the now swollen cheek. Kaidou hissed in pain.

"Ow!" He flinched as she applied more pressure.

"Stop being a baby." The coach said sternly. Kaidou's hands sometimes shot up in reflex. Ryuuzaki's patience was wearing thin.

"Here, let me help, sensei." Fuji offered and took the pack from her. "Stay still." He whispered. Kaidou paled. Fuji was a sadist. He wouldn't bother applying it any gentler even if his junior screamed.

"Sensei, what happened to the girl?" Inui asked curiously as he watched Kaidou flailed under the touch and glare from Fuji.

"Sakuno told me that the girl has been sick for a week, and after she was caught in the rain, she developed a fever. She didn't tell anyone until she collapsed earlier this morning." She explained regretfully. "She is one of Sakuno's close friends since elementary, Shirakawa Mai." She said. Inui nodded.

"Echizen said it's pneumonia."

"Yes, our school nurse suspected that. Because it has been a week, plenty of time for infection, and then she said she heard crackles in her lungs- not that I know what is that mean. She told us to take her to Hara Central Hospital-"

"OW!" all heads turned toward sound. "Senpai, that's too much!" Kaidou scooted away from Fuji.

"Ah, sorry. I spaced out." He apologized, but he didn't look remorseful. If any, he looked startled himself.

Inui returned to their idle conversation but he still looked at Fuji, "Hara Central Hospital?" he asked the coach.

"Yes. Apparently our nurse worked there once before she came here. She said the place is nice, and the treatment is very good." She told them.

After she heard another whine from Kaidou, she snapped. "Don't be such a baby and press the ice yourself!" She scolded. Kaidou quickly snatched the the pack from Fuji and reluctantly lift it to his swollen cheek.

Inui smirked in amusement at Kaidou. He spared a glance at his fellow third year who was watching Kaidou and their coach expressionlessly. If he had his notebook with him right now, he would write a detailed reaction Fuji displayed a minute ago.

* * *

When they returned to the court, the match was still going. Kawamura was expectedly losing, but it wasn't a love score for him. He was keeping up with the captain somehow.

"Tezuka is not using any of his special technique." Inui commented. Fuji hummed in agreement.

"Kawamura is not using his full power either. So it's fair enough."

Fuji noted.

"Well, we're not supposed to use any of our special moves today and rely on our speed and accuracy alone." Inui added.

They watched as the ball went in for Tezuka. The others were watching intently. Inui fiddled with his pen for a while before he asked Fuji a question. "Say, Fuji. Lately you've been acting so strange and jumpy."

"Jumpy?" Fuji repeated as if it was the most ridiculous thing he had ever heard. Inui stared at him directly.

"Especially when someone mentioned _hospital_." He emphasized, gauging his friend's reaction. Fuji only smiled, staring back at Inui with his blue eyes.

"I'm not. But I admit that I'm not fond of hospitals that much." He reasoned. He was surprised earlier. Was he that obvious?

Inui shrugged, "I see." he replied instead of his usual 'Ii data'. Fuji knew Inui didn't believe him. Inui was quite observant, calculating, and perceptive. But Fuji hoped the data collector would drop the subject, because he had been trying his best to forget it too.

* * *

The practice had ended. The first and second years were already dismissed. The regulars were currently listening to Ryuuzaki's evaluation regarding today's practice match. She complimented some of them, and scolded some too, especially Momo and Ryoma for being so immature. After she finished and about to dismiss them, a car engine was heard. They spotted a large limousine moved passed the road and heading to the entrance. A few honks were heard from afar.

"Who's car is that?"

"Looks expensive."

"That must be Atobe's."

All eyes turned to Fuji.

"What is that monkey king doing here?"

"To talk about the upcoming preparations."

"Yes, but why _him_?"

Ryuuzaki shook her head. "That's not nice boys. You can go home now." She said and turned toward Tezuka, "I trust you to welcome them, Tezuka." The captain nodded.

Tezuka walked to the entrance, followed by Fuji, who was feeling responsible since it was now his duty. "Since they come here themselves Fuji, I can talk to them about it." Tezuka offered.

"I promised I'll help right? It's alright. You can rest while I talk to him. I've rechecked the equipment and the necessary preparation, and I already finished the activity report for school." Fuji said with a smile. "I don't mind, really." He added when he noticed Tezuka's hesitation.

They walked and spotted the silver haired teenager. He was standing alone.

"Atobe." Tezuka formally greeted the other captain. He greeted everyone formally.

"Good afternoon, Tezuka." Atobe waved his hand gracefully, "-and Fuji. How are you today?" he asked as he turned toward the honey haired boy.

"I'm fine. Thank you for your help the other day." Fuji said. He was grateful Atobe helped him three days ago, when he encountered the men chasing him.

Atobe lifted his hand and touched his chin, feeling flattered, "of course, Ore-sama couldn't possibly leave you by yourself. Especially when you're in a great need, Fuji Syuusuke." He flaunted as he smirk.

Fuji remembered now why he hated this person. This guy was overly dramatic and arrogant. Fuji gave him a menacing smile in return. Atobe flinched.

"You're alone?" Tezuka asked, cutting in the unhealthy exchange between them. Atobe turned to him again.

"Yes. If it's only a matter like this, one person is enough. You're fortunate that Ore-sama, the captain, is kind enough to handle this himself." Atobe said as they led him toward the clubroom. Fuji wanted to hit him. It was worse enough that Atobe had to talk using third person point of view to describe himself. Now he had to brag and boast about everything.

"Where's your vice president?" Fuji asked. It wasn't like he would prefer dealing with the vice rather than the captain.

"Ore-sama had to leave him behind." He sighed a little pitifully and shook his head.

When they arrived at the clubroom, Fuji and Atobe seated themselves on the nearby table. Tezuka stepped away, as Fuji requested earlier. He saw the tensai pulled out some papers and started explaining the details toward the Hyoutei captain, who showed little to none interest regarding the matters. Tezuka knew from Fuji's glare and his current attitude toward Atobe, that he was half regretting for not accepting Tezuka's offer earlier.

Tezuka then exited the room quietly.

He entered the changing room and found out that the rest of the team had gone home. He changed his cloth and packed his things neatly. Instead of walking out he sat down, pulled out a notebook, and started to check the preparation lists for the festival.

He decided to wait for Fuji.

* * *

Fuji walked out the door sullenly. Atobe followed behind him. The tensai was in a bad mood right now. He wasted time talking to the Hyoutei captain. He was smart, a good tennis player, and admirable captain, but he was insufferable as well. Such thing as preparations was not in the list of the pompous heir's best subject. He didn't bother hiding his bored expression.

When Fuji opened the door to the changing room, he spotted Tezuka sitting calmly while reading papers. The captain looked up at Fuji, "are you done?" He asked.

"Were you waiting for me?"

"Aa."

Fuji smiled at the short reply, "thank you," he muttered. "I'll go change." He excused himself and went to change his cloth, leaving Atobe and Tezuka for a while. Both captains exchanged few idle words when Fuji left them.

"Thank you for coming here, Atobe." Tezuka thanked him for the inconvenience. They were the one who should've gone there instead of him.

"No, it's no trouble at all." The silver haired man waved it off. "Besides, it's easier for me to come here by car, rather than Fuji walk to Hyoutei by himself." He added. Tezuka ignored the arrogant implication.

"Fuji mentioned it earlier you offered to come here. Did you meet him somewhere before?" he asked. Fuji informed him the change of plans, but Tezuka didn't ask how it happened. Now he was curious. A bit.

"Ah yes. Actually, Ore-sama almost hit Fuji by his car." Atobe tapped his chin as he tried to remember.

Tezuka was surprised to hear that, "when?" he asked.

"About three days ago. Lucky we didn't drive too fast, or Fuji would be in the intensive care unit. He was practically throwing himself on the traffic. Oh, and then Ore-sama kindly took him back to his house after that." Atobe told him. Tezuka fell silent for a moment, processing the information. Three days ago Fuji was missing. What was he doing with Atobe? What was he doing before he met Atobe?

The door to the changing room opened, revealing Fuji in his school uniform. "I'm done, thanks for waiting." He said.

"Aa." Tezuka replied and stood up, his bag slung over his shoulder. Atobe followed and gracefully straightened his uniform.

"No problem." He said with a smile.

They went out together. Fuji and Atobe waited patiently while Tezuka locked the door. They walked to the entrance together after that.

"Tezuka, Ore-sama heard that you're hospitalized." Atobe said. Fuji glanced at the silver haired man, wondering how did he knew. Tezuka was unpertrubed and kept walking.

"Yes, almost two weeks ago." He answered flatly.

"How do you know?" Fuji finally asked.

"Well, from Kabaji, and Jirou, and the others actually. Everyone talked about it and Ore-sama have no idea where they heard it. But you're the Captain of Seigaku, the winner of the national tennis competition, surely you'll expect some rumors circulating around." He explained and glanced at Tezuka as they walked. There were no hints of sarcasm in his tone, only amusement. Tezuka didn't give any comment. "And you're hospitalized at Hara Central Hospital, right?" he asked again. Fuji almost flinched at that name.

Neither Tezuka nor Fuji responded, so Atobe continued, "my father is one of the major shareholders of the hospital property. So feel free to ask." He said with a casual tone. It was so hard to determine whether he was being informative or just bragging as usual. Tezuka only nodded at the information.

Fuji on the other hand treated the fact differently. "Atobe, can I have your contact number?" The question slipped out from Fuji's mouth before he could even reconsider it. Tezuka turned abruptly toward Fuji, though he didn't say anything. Atobe was surprised at the sudden request.

"Are you interested in Ore-sama?" he sounded astonished. The honey haired boy tried his best not to roll his eyes at that.

"Not a chance," Fuji said sweetly with an annoyed smile, "I might need it when I want to take you up on the offer."

"Sure." Atobe gave him the number while Fuji quickly typed them in his cell phone. Tezuka watched the exchange silently.

* * *

Shirakawa Mai was waiting for her turn to see the doctor. Beside her was Ryuuzaki Sakuno, her childhood friend. Sakuno was accompanying her since Shirakawa's parents lived abroad. She refused to call them home just because she had a slight cold.

Even though the school nurse directed her to go straight to the emergency room in case she had trouble breathing again, she refused. She decided to hang on for a few more hours and meet the doctor normally. She was the last in line since she came so late the registration was almost closed. They let her in because she looked so miserable. Pale, hacking cough, face flushed with fever, she spelled infection. So here she was, waiting for one more people before her turn. The waiting room became very quiet right now. The crowd already dispersed half an hour ago.

When her name was called, she was so relieved. She didn't know how long she could hang on with half-clogged airway. She came in alone while Sakuno waited outside. The nurse pointed a chair next to her. She sat there and met the kind looking doctor in front of her. The doctor started to extract information regarding her symptom and wrote it down. The coughs, the fever, the occasional nausea, and lots of other symptoms. She carefully explained what ailed her, how long it has been going, the severity and all that.

The doctor then asked her to climb on to examination table. She was checked thoroughly according to the procedure, from head to toe. She could feel the cold stethoscope's surface on her feverish skin. The doctor's face betrayed no emotion while he was examining her, he didn't even flinch when she couldn't hold back her wet coughs. Professional.

When the physical examination was completed, the doctor explained about her illness. She probably developed pneumonia, due to her neglecting her sickness for quite a long time, not taking good care of herself, and running around in the rain worsened the infection. The doctor suggested her to stay in the hospital for a couple of days for initial treatment, examination, and further tests.

"I'm sorry. But I think I want to go home." Was all she said repeatedly when they tried to coax her into staying for observation. She knew it was dangerous to stay at home while she was this sick, but she had no one to take care of her in the hospital either. She hated being alone in her house, and more so in a place as uncomfortable as hospital.

The doctor reluctantly let her decide that. But he asked her parents to sign a refusal consent, because she refused a necessary procedural action. She signed the paper herself because she couldn't contact her parents.

"I need to take your blood sample now." The doctor said. She held out her left hand. They took an empty tube. She felt it, but she was too bothered by her lungs and throat rather than a skin prick on her arm. When they were done pulling a tube of blood from her, she moved to roll her sleeve down. "Wait." They held out another tube.

"Again?"

"Yes, this is procedural now. We might need it later if we want to conduct more necessary tests."

She only nodded and let them took her blood again. When they had finished, they put a small round plaster on the site.

The doctor prescribed her list of medicines. She took it without reading them. The doctor smiled at her and kindly explained what each medicine would do. There were antibiotic, expectorant, and many others she couldn't pay attention anymore. The doctor still instructed her to do routine check-up and for the last time, tried to change her mind about going home.

Shirakawa refused again with a smile and left the doctor's office. The doctor took one of the tubes and pasted it on a paper of her copied identity form. He put them in the box along with few other tubes and papers. Someone would pick them up later. This had been going for quite a while now.

* * *

"Here, the blood for today." A young man came in and dropped a box full of tube attached papers. A doctor with a white coat gestured to the table without lifting his head,

"Put it there. I'll contact our pathologist." He said and continued writing. The young man shrugged.

"The boss needed another cross-match?" He asked. The doctor shrugged and lifted his head.

"Yes. Now leave me." He ended, blocking more questions. No further conversation needed. The young man finally realized it was his cue to leave. He slightly slammed the door behind him.

The doctor glanced at the box of tubes and reached for the papers. On the right corner of the page, there were simple identity labels such as name, age, and gender.

Suzuki Tarou, 18, male

Hideaki Miwa, 14, male

Shirakawa Mai, 15, female

Risako Takeda, 17, female

Hiromu Megumi, 15, female

And the list went on. They were a name list of teenage patients who came to the hospital for a check-up. They only picked up the fittest and generally, all individual without any underlying disease or birth defects. It would hinder their job a great deal.

But even though the criteria narrowed down the possibilities, how on earth would he find a perfect match in such a short time?

* * *

**NEXT ISSUE: Things were back into normal. But peaceful days wouldn't last forever, not after ****a matching donor was found and violence ensued. Meanwhile, the police were working on the investigations, but would they make it in time?**


	8. Chapter 8

**Early chapter! Thanks for reading and reviewing, and for pointing out mistakes in the previous chapter. I'm very grateful. =)**

**Warning: Violence. If you think I need to increase the rating, please inform me.**

* * *

**Chapter 08**

The sun shine through the gap between the beige colored curtains. Fuji cracked open his eyes and immediately shut them again. He got up without opening his lids and scrambled to the edge of the bed, temporarily blinded by the glare. He took a shaky step toward the bathroom.

After a few splash of water to the face, he felt refreshed enough to think properly. He ran his fingers through his hair as he examined his reflection in the mirror. He looked fine, although a bit tired from lack of sleeps. Even though the event from three days ago didn't bother him as much, it had him thinking for a while that he missed a few hours in the night. Despite the lack of sleep, there were no obvious bags under his eyes.

Fuji was fair skinned, but it wasn't pale. He had been spending too much time outdoor, and that explained why there was a considerable distinction between the covered and uncovered skin. Other than that, his appearance was healthy enough. But that didn't stop Inui from noticing the slight change in him. If it wasn't about his physical appearance then it must be his expression that betrayed him.

No weird things happened since the last encounter. Even though he already decided to put everything passed him, he couldn't help but reacting to conversations or anything that reminded him of the hospital.

Inui was deadly observant. He noticed the slight change in Fuji's gestures, just like Tezuka could. But Inui was more straightforward and blunt when it comes to collecting data and appeasing his curiosity. While Tezuka, being his best friend for years, despite his curiosity and concerns, would never force anything out of Fuji when he didn't want to.

Sometimes Fuji wondered if Tezuka was offended by his secretive behavior They were not girls who tended to talk, to kiss and tell. But if there was anything that bothers one of them, it just seemed natural to confide in each other. Fuji had been hiding lots of things lately. It was not his usual harmless pranks, and he knew that Tezuka noticed. And his best friend was obviously concerned.

"Shuusuke, are you done in there?" his sister called from the other side of the door.

"I'll be out in a minute." Fuji replied, voice echoing on the bathroom. He turned the water tap off and started dressing himself. He lost track of time thinking and ended up spending longer time in the shower. He wondered if his sister would ask him about it later.

"Shuusuke, I just want to tell you that your date is here."

"What?"

"And I let him in~"

His sister sung teasingly as she left. By 'date' Yumiko must referred to Tezuka. She always teased him about their unique relationship ever since the first time Tezuka came for a visit. Fuji was kind and friendly, but he was not as sociable as he seemed. He rarely took a friend home other than Eiji. Men or women he was good with everyone but he never gets too close to many. And he also was not the type of teenager who liked to fool around with girls despite having so many admirers.

His sister found it was fun to tease him about Tezuka. She could have picked Eiji since the energetic boy always hugged him at every occasion possible. She did at first, but then Fuji and Eiji became rather accustomed and ignored her. And then she just had to drag Tezuka into her mischievous jokes, mostly because she could get more defensive reactions out of him this way. Fuji only hoped she would behave in front of his friend. At least today.

When Fuji came down from upstairs, he looked around and spotted Tezuka sitting on the living room. "Tezuka, have you been waiting long?" he asked apologetically. It was no rare occurrence anymore that Tezuka would show up every morning. Though sometimes he was surprised himself at their new routine.

"No." as usual, his reply was short and efficient. Tezuka would never bother himself to do anything if he didn't want it.

Yumiko suddenly showed up from the dining room, "Tezuka-kun, would you like to have breakfast with us?" she offered.

"Thank you Fuji-san, but I've had my breakfast earlier at home," he politely refused. Yumiko smiled fondly at him. She turned toward her little brother,

"Shuusuke, your breakfast." she gestured him to follow her. Fuji looked hesitant and turned toward Tezuka.

"You should eat your breakfast, Fuji. It would be very irresponsible if you fall ill before the match." The captain said.

"You heard that." Yumiko placed her hands on her hips impatiently. "If only you can be as sweet and proper as he is, instead of being a picky eater and spiced obsessed brother, I would've never had a hard time looking after you." She shook her head dramatically. Fuji sighed at her display of affectionate complaint.

"Wait for me a bit, alright." He said apologetically to Tezuka who responded with a nod. Fuji followed his sister into the kitchen.

* * *

"The one week holiday will start next week!"

Eiji watched his classmates creating havoc in excitement. He couldn't be more envious right now. At first he was so proud he was picked out as the class representative for festival, but now he regretted it. His friend would get holidays while he prepared an event where everyone would have fun. He wanted to have fun too.

"Eiji-kun!" A girl's voice snapped him back to reality. "Were you listening?" she looked annoyed.

"I'm tired..." Eiji whined. The shoulder length haired girl huffed in exasperation.

"Be serious, we still need to discuss the food choice." Okazaki said. She was the girl who had been asking Fuji's help regarding food choice. Tezuka himself personally asked Eiji to make sure she choose the right food and not even a slightest bit influenced by the tensai's advice.

When Eiji failed to reply, she pouted and grabbed the papers, "oh, fine! I'll ask the representative from other class." She was about to left when she remembered something, "oh, and Inui from the next class volunteered to provide healthy juice in six different flavors for the festival."

"No! Don't!" Eiji leapt from his seat and rushed after her.

* * *

"Really?!"

"Taka-san, you're the best!"

"Sushi! Sushi!"

Oishi chuckled at his friends' antique. Takashi Kawamura, the son of the sushi restaurant's owner promised them a free meal if they won the friendly match against Hyoutei and . All the team members cheered in response.

"Eiji will be jumping in joy if he hears this." Oishi said to Fuji who nodded in response.

"It's a pity they have to go back to the comittee meeting after our practice."

"Yeah, I wonder how our captain managed all his responsibilities." Momoshiro chimed in as he slumped lazily to the nearby chair. He turned his head to the first year on the far corner. "Hey Ryoma-kun, how's Sakuno-chan?" Momo grinned as he called out.

BANG!

"Wah!" Momo shouted as he fell of the chair. The tennis ball flew passed him and hit the metal locker.

"Echizen, that's not nice." Oishi scolded his junior, who flatly ignored him. The first year put down his racquet and bent down to tie his shoe laces.

"Serves you right." Kaidou snickered as Momo collected himself from the floor, glaring at him. Fuji chuckled in amusement.

"Ne, Echizen. I think you need anger management." The tensai stated. Ryoma shrugged and pulled his cap down to cover his face. Fuji felt his stomach clenched at the familiarity again.

"You've been hitting balls at people thirty percent more than normal this past two weeks." Inui stated as he closed his note book.

"Yeah, and thankfully he aimed at the right person." Kaidou commented, earning more glares from Momoshiro.

"You better be quiet, snake head!" Momo shouted. A verbal fight ensued between the team, as usual.

Fuji stole a glance at Ryoma, who was now ready to go home. Ryoma chose the moment to look up and met Fuji in the eyes. The tensai only smiled at him.

* * *

It was almost impossible. They managed to find two highly matches at once. Well it wasn't an easy work analyzing over a hundred tests in 48 hours. But this was considered a miracle. Usually they wouldn't be so lucky.

Almost half a century ago, one might need a donor which characters were genetically similar to the recipient. The major risk of any transplant, even with simplest thing such as blood transfusion, was the risk of rejection. When the recipient recognized the transplant material as a foreign object, it would begin a systematic immunologic cascade. In other words, the body would fight. But with the current progress in advance technology and medicine, it was no longer a problem. There were drugs that were available to suppress the body's immune system. The body would finally relent and accept the new organ.

But there would always be side effects. Taking suppressants means reducing the immune system of the body. It made the person vulnerable to any kind of disease, from mild ones such as common cold, to a severe form of illness such as cancer. If a patient survived the organ failure, he might die from other causes.

This kind of procedure was risky, especially for a comatose patient with multiple organs damage. He was already in a deep compromised state without endangering his general protection status more.

That was why they desperately need a match, at least a highly compatible one.

"Two girls..." he noted as he separated their forms from the rests. He marked both papers with red circle on top of each before he collected them and got up from his seat. He hastily shed his lab coat and went out of the room.

The team would be relieved. Not ecstatic, but relieved.

He walked confidently through the empty corridors, to a room where he knew his other colleagues were lounging. When they were not working, they would spend their times there. They never preferred each other's company, but the boss seemed pleased seeing the team at each other's vicinity. As ridiculous as this unspoken rules heard, it seemed to appease the boss's paranoia.

It wasn't an entirely wrong fear. Because if words ever gotten out, even death couldn't possibly be enough to cover their sins.

He already worked here as a pathologist for 4 years before he was finally recruited to the team. He needed the money, the challenge, lacked the conscience, and simply hid himself behind the fact that he was just a 'finder' and not the actual killer.

Yes. Killer.

Murderer.

A bunch of oath-breakers criminals who killed instead of saving lives like they were sworn to. Well, they technically still saved lives every day as a part of their responsibility in the hospital, but they also killed occasionally.

So far, there was only two or three successful transplantation surgeries performed on the comatose boy. But it didn't mean they only had two or three bodies on their accounts. Not every possible donor they managed to find made it through the whole operation. Unfortunately, sometimes they died when they tried to kidnap them, sometimes they just died on the operating table, and some other times, they just simply failed. They were responsible for almost a dozen lives, if not more.

It was sick. But it was an unbreakable contract.

Two of his colleagues were dead due to their disobedience. He also heard rumors about them chasing a middle school student before, and also about the attempt to eliminate a nurse for her uncooperative acts.

He wondered what the others think about this. Did they feel guilty, or did they share his indifference?

He stopped in front of his destination and opened the door. "Hey. Look at what I found." He said as he dangled the clipped papers in front of his team. He recognized two nurses, an internist, anesthesiologist, and a young surgeon sitting on different spots in the room. The anesthesiologist gaped at him.

"A match?" He asked. The two nurses stopped talking and looked at him.

"Two."

"What?! How?" The internist leapt from his seat and snatched the papers. He read all the pages carefully. "It's quite good. But one of them has pneumonia, not that it can't be taken care of..." he muttered to himself. "One of them is from Hyoutei?"

"What of it?" the young surgeon finally spoke.

"Hyoutei is a prestigious school. How they're going to snatch a girl from that school?"

"That's not our job." The pathologist replied as he seated himself next to the nurses. He recognized one of them as the rumored disobliging nurse. She didn't make much expression, only watched their conversations in silence.

The internist flipped the last page and cleared his throat. "This could work. We can contact the extractors now." He said as he handed the papers back to the pathologist who received it and slipped it under his arm.

"Alright. I'll contact them after the next meeting." He replied and leant back into the chair. He stole a glance beside him and noticed the nurse eyeing the forms he was holding. Her face betrayed no emotion but he could've sworn she was so pale as she studied their donors' identities.

He noticed he was holding the form of Shirakawa Mai, age 15, with a formal picture of her in her school uniform, and the other picture of her taken candidly, she was wearing what looked like a sport jacket, blue and striped with white.

He didn't know what caused the nurse's anxiety, but he couldn't care less.

* * *

"_Mai... Are you sure you don't want me to go with you?"_

"No, Sakuno-chan, I'm alright. I've already feel a lot better after I took the medicines. The doctor is awesome."

"_So why are you going there today?"_

"They wanted me to do regular follow up, to see my progress."

"_Really?"_

"Really. Relax, Sakuno-chan. I'm the one who's ill, I know best."

She smiled into the receiver and continued to hear her younger friend's rambling. She already felt better actually. The antibiotics worked wonders in her. She no longer felt the tautness in her chest, or having a throat ripping wet cough anymore. She was sure she could play tennis again in a few days.

Cough.

"_Mai? You're still coughing!"_

"Of course, it's lung infection, remember? It can't heal overnight."

"_Are you sure?"_

"You're such a mother hen, and to think I'm older. I'm alright. A cough or two won't kill me."

"_Okay. If you say so. Call me later after your appointment alright?" _

"I'm going to hang up now. I'm in front of the hospital already. I'll call you later tonight. Bye."

She shoved her phone into her bag and fished out her hospital card. She registered herself and then waited in line for her turn.

* * *

**Tokyo, Criminal Investigation Department**

**05.30 PM**

"Here's your coffee."

"Thanks."

Two office workers were sitting on the desk, sipping coffee silently with the other two detectives. They were not currently on break time, and in fact they were supposed to work on a case. But they had been working 18 hours straight and they knew they deserved the break. Now.

"How's the case going?" The female office worker asked, trying to make some conversation as she stirred more sugars in her coffee.

"I'm afraid if I tell you I have to kill you." The detective quoted with a grin. She rolled her eyes.

"Oh please. Do it right now and free me from this department." That earned her chuckles from the detectives and her coworker. She was new in the department and they had her placed in the criminal investigation section. It was boring, not as interesting as it looked on television. Half because she had no idea what she was doing actually. All she did was typing reports all day, sometimes fetching coffee. The joy of being juniors.

"Lately the percentages of dying people are increasing, especially the younger ones. Though not much in numeric significance."

"And? Teenagers are suicidal. Ten or twenty more of that makes no difference."

"You've got a point. But..." the detective pulled a paper from an envelope beside him. "Here. Our chief analyst sent it three days ago."

"What's this?"

"A string of connection." He pointed out.

"They look so...I don't know. Random?" she raised her eyebrow as she looked at a list of almost fifty different cases of deaths. Accidents, robbery, suicides, and possible homicides.

The detective sighed and put his cup down, leaning closer to her. "Aside from the facts that death happens, and teenagers are relatively crazy, in the last five months, there're almost 40 deaths of citizens under twenty years of age occurred in this region." She was about to open her mouth but he cut her again. "_and_, of course we've checked from our reliable sources. About 25 of them died within 10 miles of a Hara Central Hospital, where most of them finally declared dead."

"Are you sure you're not running out of case and making up this one? That's what hospital is, a place to die." She said skeptically and flipped through the pages. She was not this unpleasant normally, but if she had to stay overtime working on a very vague case, she might want to know what they were dealing with.

"That seems too random right?" The other detective, looking slightly older finally spoke. "But, few of the case of deaths had been brought to media, and sometimes to our police department per victim's family requests. Along the way, we encountered a very disturbing pattern in those victims. Look at the last two columns." He instructed her. She complied and gasped.

"B-but this is too much a..."

"Coincidence? Yeah." The detective smiled at her. "Those are dates of their last visits to the hospital. 20 of them looked like they died a natural cause. But prior to their deaths, they visited the hospital at least once, either it was a simple general check up or treatment. After that, 2 weeks maximum and they died inthe hospital. Well some of them died on the site but they still visited the hospital before. And more fuel to the fire, almost all of them shared the same blood type. So... use your imagination." He explained. She shook her head in disbelief.

"You mean this is some kind of, serial killing?" she asked. The detective nodded and hummed in response. Her fellow coworker smiled at her reaction.

"Don't forget the last case of the Anasthetiso..."

"Anesthesiologist."

"Whatever."

"What of it?" she asked again. The detective pulled out another envelope from the desk.

"Another disturbing similarity is, on 15 cases, an anesthesiologist was present on each surgery." He handed her the paper. "A hospital might have four to five anesthesiologist, hell sometimes ten from what I've heard, available both for emergency and non-emergency. But there's this one person that was always there at the time of admission. And he's the only one handling the cases on the operation room."

"As if... he's waiting for them?"

"Exactly. Now you're using your imagination." He looked pleased at her. She rolled her eyes again, but now less enthusiastically.

"But it's too random. I mean, it's almost as good as guessing. You think he's the one doing the killing?"

"No. That's a clue. We suspect that there might be something bigger going on. That is why we have our people in the hospital right now. They're updating us as we speak."

"You broke into the hospital? Based from a wild guess?"

"Hey we're not breaking into anything. And we're investigators. That's what we do for a living. Things happened for a reason, and sometime the reason is not as good as what we thought. It's our job to seek the truth." He told her with a knowing smile at her bewildered expression. She was young and new to this job.

"Sometimes a guess is the only clue that we've got. But still we have to work with it." The older detective said before gulping the rest of his now cold coffee. She was silenced for a while. Suddenly the door opened, and without warning, three people entered. Both detectives and her fellow coworker shot up from their seat, knocking the cup off the table.

"Sir." They greeted in unison. He wore a leather jacket, looked younger than his actual age of forty two.

"I don't think this is the actual break time." The man narrowed his eyes disapprovingly at the empty cup that now rolling on the floor. They didn't answer. He eyed the young female worker who was slowly standing up in confusion, unsure of what to do. "Relax, I'm here to pick up my subordinates. You must be new here. I've never seen you around before." She didn't even get the chance to introduce herself as he turned to face the detectives.

"Let's go. We've found another lead. In a few days we might be able to visit some of the influential people in the hospital..." he kept on talking as he walked out the room, followed by the two detectives.

She stared at the retreating figure dumbfounded. She looked at her coworker who mouthed 'chief inspector' at her. She nodded and silently went back to typing the reports. Now her works made more sense.

* * *

Fuji.S.2902: Eiji, Taka-san said earlier that he's going to treat us to sushi if we win against Hyoutei and .

**K_Eiji_009: What?! Really?**

Fuji.S.2902: Yes, Oishi didn't tell you about it?

**K_Eiji_009: No! I've just got home. Hate the meeting. Dozed off three times and the ****witch ****Okazaki threw a book at me.**

Fuji.S.2902: Okazaki is nice. You must be upsetting her.

**K_Eiji_009: Ugh. I'm bored so I slept. **

Fuji.S.2902: =)

**K_Eiji_009: Anw, you seemed happier.**

Fuji.S.2902: Really? I'm always happy.

**K_Eiji_009: N****ooo****, Fujiko. You looked like you've seen ghost lately. **

Fuji.S.2902: Must be something I ate.

**K_Eiji_009: That's what I told Oishi too, but he won't believe me! Right? Right?**

Fuji.S.2902: ;) You knows me best Eiji.

**K_Eiji_009: Of course. I'm your best friend ne? **

Fuji.S.2902: Yes, you are.

**K_Eiji_009: Better than Buchou? =D**

Fuji.S.2902: No, you're both on the same level. First level. =)

**K_Eiji_009: Mou! Why? And what about Taka-san? Ochibi? And the others?**

Fuji.S.2902: The rest of them are all on the same level.

**K_Eiji_009: What level?**

Fuji.S.2902: 1

**K_Eiji_009: Mou...! =(**

Fuji.S.2902: You're all my best friends Eiji. Don't sulk like that.

**K_Eiji_009: Jk. I know Fujiko. ;) See you tomorrow then. Hope we'll win, and eat lots of sushi! Ja!**

**K_Eiji_009 has signed out.**

Fuji smiled as he also signed out from the messenger. It has been a while since he chatted leisurely on the internet. He lost track of days, of how long it had been since the last time he enjoyed himself without thinking of the recent incident. Days? Weeks?

He didn't ask Ryoma anything today, and he was glad he didn't. He also didn't need to ask Atobe for help either. But maybe he would keep the number, just in case he wanted to terrorize the pompous silver haired teenager. He couldn't hold back a smile.

Things were finally back to normal. And that was all that matters.

* * *

She stayed still, as still as her shaking body allowed. There were gloved hands, one covering her mouth and one holding a knife to her side. The assailant asked her to stay quiet so she obeyed instantly. It was robbery, she assured herself. She shouldn't have gone alone but it was too late to regret anything. They would take her bag and went away.

"Let the bag go." The other man said, and she hastily dropped her sling bag. It would be fine, she chanted in her mind frantically. Take everything you need and go.

She waited and followed the other guy with her eyes. He was walking away and emptying her bag to a plastic container. She couldn't care less. Her senses were now concentrated on the knife on her side, which was now positioned at her front abdomen. The sharp tip glinted dangerously under the dimmed light. He moved the knife as if he was searching for something. She didn't know what, but she could feel it behind her thin fabric.

"Careful, don't hit the kidneys."

She didn't even have the time to react as the knife plunged into her. She knew she had been gasping and struggling. At one point all that mattered was survival, so she flailed around, kicking as hard as she could, even attempted to bite. But she was too weak, from the predisposed illness and from the now new injury.

Finally her instinct lost. The pain had been so immobilizing since they didn't pull out the metal out of her. She realized they were still there, holding her in place until she was about to lose consciousness. She was suddenly feeling so tired. Her vision was blurry as they lowered her to the ground. She heard them left.

The footsteps went further away from the place, leaving her to bleed slowly on the pavement.

* * *

**Next: The incident caused uproar at Seishun Gakuen. Fuji took it rather badly, triggering lots of concerns and rousing Inui's buried interest in the dangerous case.**** Could he treat all of them as coincidences like he did before?**

**A/N: I seriously don't know how Japan police department works. I don't even know how it works in general. So I goggled around a little. I hope it's not weird or too far from reality. If it is, please let me know and help me.**


	9. Chapter 9

**Longest chapter so far. It keeps getting longer. **

**Thank you for reading and reviewing!**

* * *

**Chapter 09**

_... the girl was robbed in an alley. The citizen who found her stated that she tried to find her identification, but the victim was missing her purse and anything valuable inside her sling bag. "When I found her, she was already laying on the ground. I screamed for help when I saw the knife__ and blood__.__ It was horrible!__" Mori, a __local citizen __said. After she was admitted to Hara Central Hospital, they confirmed her identity as Shirakawa Mai, age 15, a middle__ school student in Seishun Gakuen__. The girl was on her way __back from__ the hospital __after __a __treatment follow-__up when she was attacked. A source said she finally died in the surgery room._

_The police stated this tragedy might be a common robbery case, but they promised future investigation, and hopefully catch whoever did that to a young innocent girl._

Yumiko sighed as she folded the newspaper. The accidents involving teenagers were getting more and more frequent lately. Her wild instinct told her that something was amiss. And sometimes she felt bad whenever she read this kind of news, like something very horrible will happen soon.

She dismissed her feeling as baseless worry. She blamed her paranoia on her siblings, because she had two insufferable teenage younger brothers, which she loved very much. Both were smart, reckless, and troublesome.

"Syuusuke!" she shouted, calling her brother down for breakfast. Hurried loud steps were heard from the wooden stairs.

"Nee-san, I have to leave early." He said as he walked passed her. She whipped around.

"Hey!" Yumiko shouted and chased after him. "This is the last time I'll be serving you breakfast before I left! Be thankful will you?" she complained, looking at the brother who was currently putting on his shoes.

"Forgive me this one time?" he apologized with a smile. Yumiko sighed.

"You won't be able to taste my cooking for the next half month. You sure you want to miss it?" She received a reluctant nod from her brother and chuckled at him. "Alright, but you missed a very great breakfast, Shuusuke." She said as she ruffled his hair affectionately. Fuji moved slightly to dodge her touch, but still letting her long fingers treaded playfully through his hair. The most likable thing about her brother was his understanding about her need to hover. He was fifteen yet Yumiko still cared for him as if he were eight. Unlike Yuuta, Fuji let his sister coddle him and didn't feel ashamed about it.

The honey haired teenager chuckled and moved away. "It's not like this's the last time we'll meet." Fuji said, laughing as he brushed his fingers through his hair, "bye nee-san!"

"Be careful!" Yumiko shouted after him. It was unusual for her to act like this. But she felt bad about leaving Fuji alone in this house for two weeks. Their parents were almost never at home. It wasn't like Fuji was incapable of living alone. Both her younger brothers could cook and clean, though not as good as she was. This was not the first time she left him like this, but she couldn't help this overprotective feeling from swirling inside her heart.

Yumiko sighed as she put the untouched breakfast in the freezer. Her instinct was rarely wrong. She was worried, like something bad would happen but she couldn't put her finger on it. But right now she really needed to make this trip.

She locked her purple travel bag and dragged it to the front door, staring at the other two luggages expressionlessly. She shook her head and took a deep breath. She made a mental promise to call both her little brothers every six hours.

* * *

"Fuji. Sorry to make you wait." Tezuka said as he stepped out of the froont door. Fuji smiled at him.

"No, it's alright." He replied. A woman appeared behind Tezuka. "Tezuka-san, good morning." Fuji greeted Tezuka's mother politely.

Tezuka Ayana smiled at him warmly, "morning, Fuji-kun." she said brightly. The lady was very fond of Fuji. Ayana was a traditional Japanese housewife. She was calm and collected, yet there were also the playful, warm, motherly sides of her. She liked children very much, but Tezuka was her only child, who was too serious, quiet, and apparently grew up too fast. Ayana loved it when Tezuka brought friends home, which was rare, and mostly he only brought Fuji or Oishii.

"Be careful on your way." She said to both teenagers and waited by the door until Tezuka and Fuji disappeared. Ayana liked all Tezuka's friends, especially Fuji. Because Fuji was sweet and polite, and he miraculously could get more reactions out of Tezuka in a day than she could in a year.

...

They were walking silently side by side, enjoying the quiet way to school. They went a bit earlier since Tezuka needed to see the committee before class. Tezuka already told him that he had to go early today, and Fuji said he didn't mind and offered to go to Tezuka's place. He didn't have to, but he already liked this routine.

"How is the preparation going, Tezuka?" Fuji asked as they walked.

"It's going well. The teachers already covered the work for catering and invitations for the first day ceremony. We only need to help with the decorations." The taller boy explained.

"And how about the second day? What kind of fireworks will be used?" Fuji asked. Tezuka noted the enthusiasm in his friend's voice. He knew Fuji liked fireworks.

"I've delegated all the work to the juniors. One of them is an expert in fireworks, and his parents have a useful link to a firework store. They already gave me the report, but I don't technically understand it," he answered. Fuji hummed in understanding.

"Can I see the report?" Fuji asked again. Tezuka stared at him for a moment, considering. Since he didn't see any trace of mischief in the shorter boy's eyes, he complied.

Tezuka took out a neatly clipped report from his bag and handed it to Fuji, whose eyes instantly brightened. He took it and read. "Honestly, I don't know much about fireworks either. And the report was done in great details. But I recognize some of these photos." He paused as he flipped the papers, looking for more sample pictures of the material.

"Ne, I think this will be a great show." The honey haired teenager said. Tezuka could feel the genuine excitement in the shorter boy's tone.

"Ne, Tezuka. Let's watch it together." Fuji said with the most sincere smile Tezuka had ever seen. The bespectacled boy looked at him and temporarily stunned by how happy Fuji looked right now. The student council president was no fan of festivals, crowds, and fireworks. But seeing the heartfelt smile on Fuji's face, he couldn't help but returning it.

"Aa." He replied. Fuji looked at him in sheer surprise.

"Tezuka, you're smiling!"

* * *

There was uproar at school. Every single student talked about the death of the first year girl. Rumors were flying around. Each had their own version about what has happened. From a mere robbery to being involved with Yakuza. Gossips were ridiculous.

Fuji walked down the corridor at the first floor. He was heading the cafeteria. He skipped breakfast and only drank some tea for energy. Usually he would go with Eiji, but since the acrobatic tennis player was busy doing some job for the festival, he decided to go alone.

As he passed some groups in the halls, he could hear the news about the death of one of this academy's student. He didn't get the chance to read the newspaper today, and he rarely watched the television. But he knew it was a girl, and she was his junior, probably second year. He had no idea who it was, but he was going to ask later.

Fuji ordered miso soup and rice and sat by himself on the far corner of the room. He was eating slowly, savoring the meal while looking out from the window. He spotted a group of girls, and two of them were crying while being comforted. It was sad to lose a friend, and Fuji knew it must be heartbreaking.

"Fuji-senpai." Fuji looked up and saw a first year in front of his table.

"Horio." He noticed the junior was balancing a tray on his hand.

"May I sit here?" he asked. Fuji nodded.

"Of course." He pulled his tray a bit closer, giving the junior more space. Horio looked grateful and sat down.

Horio Satoshi was a knowledgeable young tennis player, or at least he thought he was. He was loud and a show off. He often disturbed Ryouma since he was jealous of him. Despite his dislikeable personality, Fuji found him amusing.

"How is your practice going?" Fuji asked idly.

"Of course it's going well, senpai. I'm in the process of creating a remarkable technique!" He said rather ecstatically. He was well known for the discrepancy between his ambition and his skills, though he managed to tone down a bit after so many events they had been through.

They fell silent again. Horio was feeling awkward. Though Fuji was his senior, they didn't have anything in common except tennis. And Fuji's level was way too far beyond for him to brag about anything at all. Horio watched his senior played with his food.

"You're playing with your soup. Aren't you going to eat, senpai?" he pointed out bluntly and quickly shut his mouth. "Sorry, I mean-" Fuji put on his usual smile.

"It's alright. I'm full." He said and looked out to the window again. The girls were sobbing, tissues scattered around them. He didn't have much appetite now. Somehow the sight, no matter how unrelated they were, still bothered him enough.

He stared at the bowl in front of him. At least he managed to down half of it.

"Can I ask you something?" Fuji asked suddenly. Horio looked up from his meal. "Do you know the girl they have been talking about? The one who died yesterday?" He tried to phrase the sentence as polite as he could, in case the deceased young girl was Horio's friend. Though it was very unlikely since Horio was gulping his food without any remorse.

"Yes, it's the girl in the next class. She's second year, older than most, and she's Ryuuzaki-chan's best friend." Horio answered. Fuji felt like something had punched him on the stomach. He remembered bits of conversation from days ago.

"_Nya, Ochibi!" Eiji said as he practically bounced away from the group, welcoming the junior. "Have you seen Ryuuzaki-sensei?" he asked._

"_No, but I know where she might be." Ryoma answered flatly. They stared at him. "Sakuno told me earlier that she's going to accompany her friend to the hospital. She collapsed while practicing tennis earlier. And the school nurse was saying something about pneumonia." He told them._

"_Oh, from the girl tennis team?" Inui asked. Ryoma nodded._

_"Sensei, what happened to the girl?" Inui asked curiously._

_"Sakuno told me that the girl has been sick for a week, and after she was caught in the rain, she developed a fever. She didn't tell anyone until she collapsed earlier this morning."_

"She was heading to the Hara Central Hospital, and ironically arrived and died there. " Horio told Fuji. The senior tried to calm himself, chanting the word 'coincidences' repetitively in his mind.

_"-__our school nurse suspected that. Because it has been a week, plenty of time for infection, and then she said she heard crackles in her lungs- not that I know what is that mean. She told us to take her to __**Hara Central Hospital**__."_

_Ryuuzaki-sensei was giving them a sour look when she said it. "She is one of Sakuno's close friend since elementary, Shirakawa Mai."_

"Do you...do you know her name?" Fuji scolded himself for being agitated suddenly. He couldn't explain how he felt right now. But his stomach was twisted in knots. Horio frowned a bit and tapped the spoon to his lips,

"Eto..." He trailed, completely unaware of the slight fear in his senpai's blue eyes. Fuji clenched his fist subconsciously.

'_What am I getting worked up for? Even if it's her, it's probably nothing. Coincidence. Coincidence.'_

"Suzu...Shiori...uh.. Oh! Shirakawa! Ah yes, that's it!" Horio suddenly exclaimed. "Shirakawa Mai." He finally remembered. But he was shocked as his senpai suddenly stood up, accidentally toppled the half full bowl. "S-senpai-" before he could ask anything, Fuji already bolted out of the room.

* * *

Fuji hadn't had the chance to close the bathroom door properly, much less locking it. He hurled whatever he had eaten 15 minutes ago into the toilet. He let his honey colored strands fell freely as he heaved.

"A-are you alright?" a voice, obviously a male, asked him from behind.

"Y-yes," his answer didn't sound like it. "I'm fine." He waved his hand to dismiss whoever that was standing behind him at the moment.

After he pressed the flush button, he staggered to the row of identical basins. He turned the water tap on and washed his hand. He splashed the cold water into his face and looked at his reflection in the mirror. He was the exact definition of ghostly pale.

He looked around and found two students, probably in first or second years, or they were third years he didn't know about. He received strange and worried looks from them. He tried to force a smile and turned to the basins. He wiped his mouth and panted slightly. He had no record of panic attacks, and he never had any issue with his digestive system before. Could this be what they called stress-induced gastrointestinal problem? He shut his eyes tightly.

How stupid. All of this was triggered merely by a name of a hospital, a familiar name, _and_ a baseless persistent bad omen.

_Shirakawa Mai._

_Hara Central Hospital._

_Ironic._

_Death._

_Nurse._

_Suspicious._

_Hospital._

Fuji felt the bile rise in his throat once more and rushed to the nearest stall. He dry heaved at the pristine white toilet, having no food left to throw up. He shut his eyes tightly again as he clenched his chest. It hurted. So this was how it feels to have acid traveled up your throat. He regretted his choice to skip breakfast.

"S-senpai, are you alright?" the voice shouted worriedly. So they hadn't left the room, and apparently they were his juniors.

"I...it's fine." His voice was coarse. His throat burned.

_Student._

_Accident._

_Teenagers._

_Hospital._

"Ugh." He quickly heaved into the toilet bowl once again. He panted heavily as his vision began to swim. Panicked voices resounded in the toilet.

_Hospital._

_Accidents._

"Hey, call the teacher quickly!" one of the students in the bathroom ushered the other one. He was supporting his senior, who was slumped at the floor, by the shoulder. He recognized the face and posture as one of Seishun's tennis player. He had watched a few matches.

He tried to rouse the older student, "S-senpai." He stuttered and shook the body.

"I'm alright..." the voice was so soft he almost missed it. So his senior didn't passed out.

The door barged open and revealed his friend, "I didn't find any teacher, but I brought him. He's your classmate right?" He gestured toward his fellow second year, who was wearing a bandana he deemed as silly.

"Oh, it's you. Kaidou! Quickly, help me!" he shouted at his classmate. Kaidou looked worriedly at the body, and it wasn't because of the state. It was the familiarity that shocked him.

He rushed toward the stall and squatted beside his classmates, "Fuji senpai!" he said and tried to shook the shoulder that was being supported by his friend. Fuji cracked open his eyes and moaned.

"I'm okay. Sorry..." His voice trailed away into a whisper. He placed his hand on the lavatory wall, trying to support himself with one hand, while the other was still clutching his chest. Kaidou warily followed the shaky movement, bracing his senpai closely with both arms. His classmates gradually released his hold from the shoulder.

Fuji managed to stand up, albeit very slowly. Kaidou put one arm over his back and gripped his senpai's other arm, carefully supporting him from behind as they walked. He noticed there were slight weak protests from the tensai but Kaidou ignored them.

"Oi, Ikeda." Kaidou called his friend as he steadied his senpai. Ikeda ran to his side.

"Here, let me help." He offered a hand.

"No. I can handle this. But please go to class eleven and ask for Tezuka buchou- I mean, Tezuka senpai. And tell the homeroom teacher while you're at it."

"Tezuka Kunimitsu? The student council president?"

"Yes, him. Please." Kaidou hissed and glared at his friend. Ikeda turned away and ran to where the third years classes were. Kaidou honestly didn't know where his tennis senpais' classes were exactly except for Inui and Tezuka. He didn't know who were Fuji's classmates either. So he thought it was best to just call for his captain since he was their leader and the tensai's best friend.

Kaidou led the honey haired boy slowly to the infirmary. While the older boy's posture and expression were better than 8 minutes earlier, Fuji's steps were still threateningly sluggish. Kaidou hoped the legs wouldn't give out. "Senpai, we're almost at the infirmary. I hope the nurse is back from lunch." He told his senior. Fuji's breath hitched slightly.

_Nurse._

_Hospital._

_Murder._

* * *

"Honestly, Kaidou, how thoughtless can you be?" Inui stated as he re-worded the term 'stupid' as polite as he could. Kaidou gave him a displeased look. "Tezuka is in class 3-12. And I'm eighty percent sure he is at the student council room at this hour. I _am_ the one in class 3-11. Fuji's homeroom teacher is in class 3-6 because that is Fuji's class, and his classmate is Eiji actually." Inui explained disdainfully to his junior.

"At least I brought him here." Kaidou snarled at the older boy. "And I think he's better than before." He added. Inui shrugged.

"I'm glad." Inui said as he looked at the green separating curtain. Fuji was currently on the other side, laying on the infirmary bed.

Inui turned to his junior again, "can you go to the teacher's room and call our nurse?" He asked. Kaidou contemplated a bit.

"Alright. Stay here." He said and exited the room.

Inui walked toward the bed, shoving the curtain aside as he made his way in. He spotted Fuji laying on his side, his chin length hair now splayed on the pillow, eyes clenched shut. But Inui knew he was actually awake. "How are you feeling?" he asked.

"Better." Fuji replied and opened his eyes.

"Kaidou said you collapsed in the restroom." Inui told him. The tensai sighed and smiled lightly.

"I didn't collapse. I only threw up a few times –"

"and collapse."

Fuji smiled lightly. "I never know you can be so funny, Inui." He stated.

"Are you sick? Is this the reason why you've been acting so strangely this past week?" Inui asked directly. Fuji tried to suppress an annoyed groan. Why did Inui have to be curious about everything.

"And please don't lie. If you postpone your answer for more than five seconds, or answering earlier than three, you're usually lying."

Fuji chuckled weakly at that. Inui was so direct and it was making him frustrated and amused at the same time. "No, I'm not sick. Just something I ate today." He half-lied, waiting for the other's response.

"You can drink most of my healthy juices that made people pass out more often than not. I won't give you the exact probability of you getting ill from cafeteria's food. It is nearly impossible." Inui perked his glasses up as he said that.

"I did pass out after drinking Aozu." Fuji retorted, saying it rather defensively. He was running out of excuses now.

Inui gave no comment after that, he only stood up at the bed side and looked at the laying boy. Fuji didn't like Inui's gaze. It was scrutinizing and calculating behind the dark rimmed glasses. Fuji was not afraid, of course, since he also possessed a frightening gaze. But he really felt very uncomfortable when he was being stared down in this vulnerable state.

Fuji shifted a little, and actually realized he was on a bed, infirmary bed which reserved for sick people. It made him slightly self-conscious. He remembered why he was in the infirmary. It was the news about the girl, and the past encounters within the hospital building. He felt his stomach churn at the thought.

"Nauseated?" Inui asked.

Fuji ignored the question. "Thanks for caring." He huffed and rolled on his back. It felt better in this position. The bespectacled boy only watched as Fuji tried to make himself comfortable. There was a long silence before he heard the other's voice again.

"Inui." Fuji's voice was faint. Inui made no response, but Fuji knew he heard him. "Have you ever read the newspapers lately?"

"I read three different newspapers every day." Fuji let out a slight smile again. That was so Inui.

Inui looked at Fuji's eyes, which were staring blankly into the ceiling. He waited for the other to talk. "Did you notice there were so many deaths among teenagers these days?" There was a brief pause before Fuji continued. "...and that they always died at the same hospital?" Fuji's voice trailed into a whisper again, as if he was talking to himself instead of Inui.

"I don't."

Fuji realized what he had asked and he regretted why he didn't reconsider it for the fifth time before asking. "Never mind, Inui." He said. Inui perked his glasses up again.

"I didn't notice because I have no interest in it before." He told the tensai. Fuji dreaded the word 'before' and the implications. "Do you want me to look it up?" Inui finally offered. A minute ago it was the best solution Fuji thought he could make, but now he was not so sure.

"No, Inui. I just wondered." He tried to dismiss the subject. Inui stared at him curiously now.

"Is that why you threw up back then? Because you heard the news about the girl on the tennis team, and you feel bothered about it?" Inui asked, putting it mildly. Fuji was sure the gears on the other's head were working on different suspicions right now.

Fuji sighed, "No and yes." He was wrong to bring this conversation up in the first place. "I was just thinking to myself earlier Inui, please forget it." He said tiredly. But he knew he couldn't stop Inui once he was interested in something.

Inui never lied or made empty promises, so he didn't reply anything after that. Fuji knew Inui was smart and perceptive. If he insisted on Inui forgetting the matter, he'd only become more interested. So Fuji chose to stay in silence until the nurse came.

* * *

Inui left the room when the teacher arrived. She quickly examined Fuji, asking him questions, and told him to take it easy for the rest of classes.

"Have you eaten lunch?"

"Yes."

"Breakfast?"

"No."

The nurse sighed and wrote something on a book. "Your stomach must be upset. I am no doctor, but I can do the logic. You should eat more properly." She scolded him. "And you're a third year. I know exams and the high school choices must be heavy on your mind right now. Psychological stress could do as much harm to the body as the physical ones you know." Fuji nodded, though her guess regarding his stress sources were far from the truth. But it was true that he had a lot on his mind lately, and he never thought that it could upset his body.

"Yes. Thank you very much, sensei." He said as he rose from the bed. The school nurse gently held him back.

"No, just rest for a while. I'll inform your teacher after this and fetch you some water." She smiled at him warmly.

Fuji was grateful for her kindness. The school nurse was a woman in her mid-thirties. She was warm, affectionate, and nurturing. She had a dark hair that clipped neatly behind her head, and a dark colored eyes behind a brown rimmed glasses. If she didn't wear the white outfit and glasses, she'd looked like a typical Japanese housewife. Fuji suddenly remembered the nurse in the hospital.

"Sensei..." Fuji started, getting her attention. She turned her chair toward him.

"Yes?"

"I heard you work in Hara Central Hospital before."

"Yes, that's right. But only for a year, then I quit because I got married and moved out to Osaka with my husband." She explained. "Why did you ask?"

Fuji hid his nervousness. He didn't want to appear overly curious. "There was this nurse I know when I was there, and she helped me a lot. Me and my family have been wanting to say thanks but we never get a chance." He lied smoothly.

"What is her name?" she asked, looking interested.

"I didn't catch her name. But I'd like to meet her again to say thank you."

"You're a very sweet one, aren't you?" she said affectionately. She went to her desk and pulled out a file case. "How did she look like?" She asked.

"Probably the same age as you are, sensei. She has black hair and dark eyes. Her hair was curly." He explained and silently prayed in his heart she might found something.

"That's a very common trait to identify. But if she really is my age..." her voice trailed as she searched through the files. "Here you go." She handed him three pictures. "This one was taken from an annual meeting for employee, this one was when I accepted the first time, we were twenty at that time. And this one was me and my colleagues from the same department. I work at the ICU at that time." Fuji nodded and accepted the pictures. The school nurse must be really smart if she worked at the intensive care unit once.

One picture showed almost 60 -70 nurses and paramedics, face hardly recognizable, old annual picture maybe. Fuji noticed the year at the bottom left corner, it was dated 3 years ago. He looked at another picture of a group of nurses. There were 4 males and 6 females. All fully dressed and covered with aprons, but without masks. They appeared to stand in front of the glass door with 'Intensive Care Unit' on the wall above. They were smiling and posing Vs with their hands. Fuji scanned the faces. There was the school nurse, strangers, and then he found her.

"Sensei, this person. This is her." Fuji said as he pointed a woman in the middle. The school nurse looked at where his finger pointed at and smiled.

"Oh, that's Sakurai Akane! We're always on the same shift back then." Her face lit up in excitement. "She was kind, brave, and loved challenge. I didn't want to work at the ICU at the time, because it seemed so difficult and I'm kind of clumsy, but she kindly taught me many things." She told the quiet teenager.

Fuji didn't know why he was asking the thing he was going to ask. "Do you have her address?" He asked. Fortunately, she didn't refuse his request and smiled widely instead.

"Let me write it down for you." She took a piece of paper and scribbled an address. She handed him the paper.

"I don't know if she still lives there. But if you meet her, say hello to her for me, alright?" she asked. Fuji smiled and nodded. He hoped the school nurse didn't notice his hand trembled as he shoved the paper in his uniform's front pocket.

* * *

02.05

Fuji watched the clock on the wall begrudgingly. Finally the class was over. He was bored waiting for the school to be over in the infirmary. The school nurse left for something to do and told him to rest just a little longer. The truth was he already felt much better, thought he could feel discomfort on his abdomen. Throwing up was not a pleasant activity. But it was nothing serious.

When Fuji was about to climb down from the bed, the infirmary door opened. Fuji was surprised to see the captain came in, holding his bag on his hand.

"Tezuka..."

"How are you feeling?" He asked.

"I'm fine. Just something I ate earlier." He told the captain. "And it's not a food poisoning, I assure you." He teased the taller boy. Tezuka frowned.

"That's not funny, Fuji." He said, disliking the fact Fuji made fun of his state when he was hospitalized earlier. "And are you really alright? Do you need to go the hospital?" Tezuka asked. Fuji knew he was worried.

But when he mentioned the word 'hospital', Fuji felt like dread crept back into him. Why did he have to be reminded about it now? No, the thing that bothered him the most was his reaction toward those little triggers. He knew he was steadily developing some kind of paranoia right now. And he felt really stupid.

"Fuji?" Tezuka asked again. Fuji mentally scolded himself for spacing out.

"Sorry. Just a bit tired." He said and stood up, smiling slightly at Tezuka. He held out his hand to Tezuka, asking for his bag.

Tezuka only slung it into his own shoulder. "I'll walk you home. Let's go." He stated, giving no room for argument. He knew Fuji hated being treated like he was weak, but he at least wanted to hold the bag for him.

Fuji smiled, "you're so sweet, ne..." he said sweetly as he followed Tezuka out of the room. He decided against stubbornness and let Tezuka held his school bag for him this time. "Tezuka, did you just blush?" Fuji asked. The captain noticed the teasing tone. He held back a sigh and for the hundredth times in the week, Tezuka ignored the tensai again.

They walked to the bus stop in silence, just as quiet as their walk this morning. Once they were in the bus, Tezuka still didn't let go of Fuji's bag. Fuji smiled in amusement at Tezuka's thoughtfulness. In the absence of his bag and having nothing to hold on to at the moment, Fuji shoved his hand to his uniform pocket idly. His heart skipped a bit as he touched the slightly crumpled paper, the address he received earlier. Fuji shoved it deeper before pulling his hand back, resting it on his lap, and started tapping his fingers absently.

* * *

**Next Issue: After analyzing numerous data, Inui put two and two together, and decided to confront Fuji about it. Will Fuji finally get over his denial and start taking the threat seriously?**


End file.
